DBS Bank India partners with Social Alpha to find innovative solutions to tackle food loss and wastage

DBS Bank India today announced its partnership with Social Alpha, a innovation curation and venture development platform for tech startups, to address the global issue of food waste through sustainable solutions.

The partnership furthers DBS' commitment to supporting entrepreneurial efforts toward addressing productivity and supply chain efficiency issues, leading to food waste and value erosion in the food and agri sector.

Nearly 40 percent of food produced in India is lost before it reaches the markets and further wasted at the retailer level, which decreases the nutritional security and causes income losses for farmers. Moreover, an estimated 50 kg per capita of household food waste is recorded, totalling 68M tonnes a year.

Techtonic Innovations Towards Zero Food Waste, presented by DBS and powered by Social Alpha, is a two-year program that identifies innovative and scalable solutions by entrepreneurs to help reduce quantitative and qualitative food loss and waste across food systems and agri-food value chains. Under this engagement, selected start-ups will receive grant support to develop their product and marketing strategy, receive branding support, access to grassroots partnerships, and pitch for seed capital.

Commenting on the partnership, Shoma Narayanan, Managing Director - Group Strategic Marketing & Communications at DBS Bank India, said, "About one-third of the world's food is lost or wasted each year. This is enough to feed three billion people. DBS is committed to changing the way food production and consumption is viewed, and our partnership with Social Alpha is a significant step towards addressing the problem of food waste through sustainable solutions."

Innovations along the entire food value chain are necessary to reduce food loss and food waste, thereby positively impacting livelihood, economy, and climate. Supporting socially impactful innovations with investment can significantly drive change towards creating a better future.

Nikhita Nadkarni, Director and Principal, Livelihoods & Prosperity at Social Alpha, said, "The post-harvest infrastructure currently available for smallholder farmers is insufficient and inaccessible, leading to massive food waste and income loss for farmers. We believe that there is an opportunity to solve this problem through technological innovations and entrepreneurship. We are excited about our partnerships with DBS Bank in accelerating the efforts toward zero food waste. Through the Techtonic, DBS and Social Alpha will scout for 5 high-impact, mission-driven start-ups and provide them venture acceleration support to reach scale and create impact.”