Seeding The Future Foundation

Quick Stats

• EIN: 47-4718771
• Annual Giving: $1.9 million (2024)
• Success Rate: 0.8% (13 winners from 1,600+ applications in 2024)
• Decision Time: 5-7 months (applications close December, winners announced March-July)
• Grant Range: $25,000 - $250,000
• Geographic Focus: Global (97+ countries)
• Total Assets: $41.5 million (2024)

Contact Details

Address: 501 Silverside Road, Wilmington, DE 19809

Website: https://www.seedingthefuture.org

Challenge Website: https://www.welthungerhilfe.org/global-food-system-challenge (operated by Welthungerhilfe as of 2025)

Application Portal: https://www.gfsc-apply.whh.org/

Important Note: The foundation explicitly states it "only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds" outside of the annual Global Food System Challenge.

Overview

Founded in 2015 by Dr.-Ing. Bernhard van Lengerich, former Chief Science Officer at General Mills and acting CTO at Beyond Meat, Seeding The Future Foundation is a private 501(c)(3) foundation with assets of $41.5 million and annual charitable disbursements of approximately $1.9 million (2024). The foundation's mission is "to seed and support the creation and acceleration of human-centered ideas and innovations that have high impact potential at scale on the health of people and the environment."

The foundation's flagship program is the annual Seeding The Future Global Food System Challenge, launched in 2021 in partnership with the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT). Beginning with the 2025-26 cycle, operational leadership transitioned from IFT to Welthungerhilfe (WHH), an international leader in food systems transformation. Over four years, the Challenge has drawn more than 4,000 applications from 97 countries, awarding $1 million annually to visionary teams tackling urgent food system challenges. The foundation also makes select grants to organizations like Second Harvest Heartland, Tufts University's Food & Nutrition Innovation Institute, and the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment.

Funding Priorities

Grant Programs

Seeding The Future Global Food System Challenge (Annual competition - $1 million total)

The Challenge offers three competitive grant tiers:

• Seed Grants: $25,000 (up to 8 awarded annually) - For teams with prototypes or initial proof of concept demonstrating feasibility. Innovations must benefit at least one of the three core domains.

• Growth Grants: $100,000 (up to 3 awarded annually) - For organizations that have demonstrated their innovation is doable with projected economic feasibility at scale and high-impact potential. Must benefit at least two innovation domains.

• Seeding The Future Grand Prizes: $250,000 (up to 2 awarded annually) - For organizations with scalable, economically feasible innovations that are trusted and compelling to consumers with demonstrated major impact potential. Must benefit at least two innovation domains.

Application Method: Annual online application through Welthungerhilfe portal. Applications open October 15 and close December 15 each year. Multi-stage competitive review process with eligibility screening, content screening, and selection committee rounds. Growth Grant and Grand Prize finalists participate in interviews.

Other Grants: The foundation makes select strategic grants to support food system innovation infrastructure, research institutions, and food security organizations. These are not open to public application and are made to preselected organizations.

Priority Areas

The Challenge targets innovations at the intersection of three core domains:

1. Safe and Nutritious Food: Innovations that provide access to healthy diets, address malnutrition, improve food safety, and enhance nutritional value
2. Sustainable and Regenerative Practices: Solutions that operate within planetary boundaries, promote climate-smart agriculture, reduce environmental impact, and support regenerative systems
3. Equitable Access: Innovations that are affordable, appealing, accessible, and trusted by consumers, particularly benefiting smallholder farmers and vulnerable communities

Key Focus Areas:

• Biofortification and nutrient-dense crops
• Climate-smart farming technologies
• Post-harvest loss reduction
• Regenerative agriculture and indigenous food systems
• Food safety screening and quality control
• Sustainable cold chain solutions
• Smallholder farmer empowerment
• School feeding programs with locally-sourced ingredients

What They Don't Fund

• Individual applicants (teams must apply through an eligible organization)
• Organizations based in countries under comprehensive U.S. or German sanctions (Afghanistan, Belarus, Crimea, Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, North Korea, Russia, Sevastopol, Sudan, South Sudan, Syria, Kherson, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions)
• For-profit companies that have raised Series A funding or have assets exceeding $10 million
• Projects without proof of concept or prototype development
• Innovations that negatively impact one domain while benefiting another
• Unsolicited funding requests outside the annual Challenge

Governance and Leadership

Founder and CEO: Dr.-Ing. Bernhard van Lengerich
Vice President: Annette van Lengerich

Dr. van Lengerich joined General Mills in 1994, serving as Chief Science Officer and Vice President for Technology Strategy for over 20 years before retiring in 2015. He authored or co-authored over 160 patents. In 2016, he joined Beyond Meat as acting CTO and Head of R&D, leading development of the first Beyond Burger in 2016, and served on Beyond Meat's Board until May 2021. Inspired by experiences in Sub-Saharan Africa witnessing extreme poverty and chronic hunger, he founded Seeding The Future Foundation in 2015.

Leadership Philosophy (from Dr. van Lengerich): "The abundance of scalable, transformative and impactful innovations from passionate teams of scientists, entrepreneurs, and innovators worldwide will transform food systems globally and improve the health and livelihoods of people while staying within planetary boundaries... Science, technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship are key pillars to transform food systems on a global level and the need for climate-positive and human-centered food solutions becomes more urgent every year."

The foundation is governed as a private foundation with minimal overhead—key officers receive no compensation, and approximately 95% of expenses go directly to charitable disbursements.

Application Process & Timeline

How to Apply

For the Seeding The Future Global Food System Challenge:

1. Determine Eligibility: Ensure your organization is a non-profit, NGO, academic institution, research center, or early-stage for-profit/social enterprise (pre-Series A, under $10M assets) located in an eligible country.

2. Select Award Level: Choose which grant tier (Seed, Growth, or Grand Prize) aligns with your innovation's stage of development. You must have at least a prototype or proof of concept.

3. Prepare Application Materials:

   • Organizational profile and contact information
   • Recent financial statements
   • Mission and vision statements
   • Detailed project overview and comprehensive plan
   • Impact description demonstrating benefits to core domains
   • Evidence of multidisciplinary approach
   • For for-profits: business plan overview

4. Submit Online: Complete all application questions and requested materials through the online portal at https://www.gfsc-apply.whh.org/ by the December 15 deadline. Late or incomplete submissions cannot be considered.

5. Assemble Diverse Teams: The foundation emphasizes "creative, diverse, and multidisciplinary teams." Collaborations between organizations are encouraged, with one serving as the formal applicant.

For Other Foundation Grants: The foundation does not accept unsolicited applications outside the annual Challenge. Other grants are made to preselected charitable organizations identified through the founder's network and strategic partnerships.

Decision Timeline

Annual Challenge Timeline:

• October 15: Applications open
• December 15: Application deadline
• January-February: Eligibility screening and initial content review by independent experts
• March: Seed Grant winners announced; Growth Grant and Grand Prize semifinalists announced
• April-May: Selection committee review rounds; finalist interviews conducted
• June-July: Growth Grant and Grand Prize winners announced

Total Timeline: Approximately 5-7 months from application deadline to final announcements.

Success Rates

The Challenge is highly competitive:

• 2024: 1,600+ applications → 13 winners (0.8% success rate)
• 2023: 900+ applications → 13 winners (1.4% success rate)
• 2022: 600+ applications → 13 winners (2.2% success rate)
• Overall: Over 4,000 applications from 97 countries since 2021

Selection Process: Applications go through rigorous multi-stage review:

1. Eligibility screen
2. Content screen by independent experts using standardized rubric
3. Two selection committee review rounds
4. Finalist interviews (for Growth Grants and Grand Prizes)
5. Final selection

Reapplication Policy

• Awardees may reapply in future cycles provided they continue to meet eligibility criteria
• Unsuccessful applicants may reapply - no explicit restrictions prevent reapplication in subsequent competition cycles
• Multiple submissions allowed - organizations can submit multiple distinct concepts in the same cycle, provided each submission is unique and complies with all application rules

Additional Benefit: Applicants who reach semifinal level or higher are included in the Seeding The Future Global Food System Impact Innovators Database and Network, a searchable resource for stakeholders in investment, policy, and philanthropy.

Application Success Factors

Based on analysis of winning projects and foundation guidance:

1. Proof of Concept is Critical: The Challenge explicitly states it is "intended for initiatives for which at least some experiments have already been conducted to develop prototypes, or have shown initial proof of concept, demonstrating feasibility." Applicants are "strongly recommended to have made some progress on their concept development to increase their chances of being selected."

2. Multi-Domain Impact: Winning innovations demonstrate benefits across multiple core domains. Seed Grant projects must benefit at least one domain, while Growth Grants and Grand Prizes must benefit at least two domains without negatively impacting others. The most successful projects sit at the "intersection of three domains."

3. Scalability and Economic Feasibility: Winners emphasized their projects' "simplicity and scalability" with low-cost, community-driven models that can be replicated across regions. Grand Prize winners must demonstrate innovations are "economically feasible at scale."

4. Climate-Smart and Regenerative Approaches: Recent winners incorporated solar-powered technologies (Oorja Development Solutions' irrigation systems), regenerative land management (Kenya Mara's Maasai conservancies), and biodegradable solutions, reflecting the foundation's emphasis on sustainability "within planetary boundaries."

5. Community-Centered Solutions: Successful projects empower specific communities—smallholder farmers, women farmers, school children, indigenous populations—addressing local needs while creating broader systemic impact. As Dr. van Lengerich emphasizes, innovations must be "human-centered."

6. Nutritional Focus with Local Solutions: Winners like HarvestPlus (biofortified porridges in Zambia) and Nurture Posterity International (composite flours for Uganda schools) addressed malnutrition using locally-sourced, climate-smart ingredients and indigenous crops.

7. Innovative Technology Application: Competitive applications demonstrate novel uses of technology: CSIR-SARI's near-infrared screening for aflatoxin detection, Toothpick Company's fungus-based bioherbicide, and mobile app integration for farmer support.

8. Measurable Impact Data: Growth Grant and Grand Prize winners provide concrete metrics—Nurture Posterity International expanded to 297 schools feeding 240,000+ children. Include specific data on people reached, environmental impact, and economic benefits.

9. Multidisciplinary Collaboration: The foundation seeks "creative, diverse, and multidisciplinary teams" that collaborate "across disciplines and cultures." Partnerships between universities, NGOs, private sector, and communities strengthen applications.

10. Consumer Trust and Adoption: Grand Prize criteria specifically include innovations that are "compelling to consumers" and "trusted." Consider how your innovation addresses consumer barriers to adoption, cultural preferences, and builds trust in new food technologies or practices.

Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

1. Apply Only If You Have Proof of Concept: This is not a grant for ideas—you must have developed a prototype, conducted initial experiments, and demonstrated feasibility. Have your evidence ready.

2. Frame Your Innovation at the Intersection: The strongest applications explicitly demonstrate how they benefit multiple domains (nutrition, sustainability, and access) without trade-offs. Use the foundation's language of "safe and nutritious," "sustainable and regenerative," and "affordable, appealing, accessible, and trusted."

3. Competition is Fierce, Prepare Accordingly: With success rates below 1% in recent years, treat this as a major grant opportunity requiring substantial preparation time. Start early, refine your application, and ensure all materials are complete.

4. Emphasize Scalability and Economics: Growth Grants and Grand Prizes require demonstrating your innovation can scale economically. Include business models, cost analysis, and replication potential across regions.

5. Quantify Your Impact: Use specific metrics showing people reached, nutritional improvements, environmental benefits, economic gains for farmers or communities. Winners provide concrete impact data.

6. Consider the Global South Focus: With Welthungerhilfe now operating the Challenge, there's increased emphasis on Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Projects serving smallholder farmers and vulnerable communities in these regions align with current priorities.

7. Build Diverse, Multidisciplinary Teams: Assemble teams crossing scientific disciplines, sectors (academic, NGO, private), and cultures. The foundation values diverse perspectives and collaborative approaches.

References

• Seeding The Future Foundation official website: https://www.seedingthefuture.org (accessed February 2026)
• Seeding The Future Foundation "Our Story": https://www.seedingthefuture.org/our-story (accessed February 2026)
• Seeding The Future Global Food System Challenge official page (Welthungerhilfe): https://www.welthungerhilfe.org/global-food-system-challenge (accessed February 2026)
• ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer - Seeding the Future Foundation (EIN 47-4718771): https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/474718771 (accessed February 2026, data through 2024)
• Institute of Food Technologists press releases on Challenge winners (2022-2024): https://www.ift.org/press/press-releases/ (accessed February 2026)
• Grantmakers.io Profile: https://www.grantmakers.io/profiles/v0/474718771-seeding-the-future-foundation/ (accessed February 2026)
• Cause IQ organization profile: https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/seeding-the-future-foundation,474718771/ (accessed February 2026)
• "Seeding The Future Foundation, Institute of Food Technologists, and Welthungerhilfe Announce Evolution of the Seeding The Future Global Food System Challenge," Business Wire, September 2025
• van Lengerich, Bernhard. "Op Ed: Transforming Food Systems for the Climate Fight," vegconomist, 2024: https://vegconomist.com/opinion/op-ed-bernhard-van-lengerich-transforming-food-systems-climate-fight/ (accessed February 2026)
• "Seeding The Future Global Food System Challenge is Changing Lives: Winners Reflections," IFT press release, December 10, 2024: https://www.ift.org/press/press-releases/2024/december/10/seeding-the-future-gfsc-winners-reflections (accessed February 2026)
• "IFT and Seeding The Future Foundation Announce Growth Grant and Grand Prize Winners of USD $1 Million Food Innovation Challenge," Business Wire, July 9, 2025
• Welthungerhilfe partnership announcement: https://www.welthungerhilfe.org/about-us/partners/foundations-and-grantmakers/seeding-the-future-foundation (accessed February 2026)