How 12 ventures will drive a healthier, more resilient food system in Boston

Food insecurity, chronic disease and rising healthcare costs are placing growing pressure on cities and healthcare systems around the world. In Boston, leaders across healthcare, government, academia, philanthropy and industry are coming together to explore the interconnectivity between improved access to nutritious food, strong health outcomes and more resilient food systems.

That vision is driving Yes/Boston, an initiative launched by the World Economic Forum and collaborators to accelerate innovation at the intersection of health access, resilience and sustainable food systems.

As part of the initiative, 12 ventures have been selected through an UpLink Innovation Challenge designed to attract early-stage entrepreneurs with solutions that can be deployed across Boston's food and health ecosystem and meet challenges as defined by the coalition.

Chosen from 131 applicants, the cohort includes innovators working across food production, logistics, nutritious food and food information access and navigation. Together, they represent a new generation of food-as-health solutions with the potential to strengthen resilience, improve health outcomes and expand economic opportunity.

"Cities are where many of our most urgent food and health challenges converge, but they are also where innovation can move fastest," said Jeff Merritt, head of Urban Transformation at the Forum. "By bringing together entrepreneurs, healthcare providers, leading businesses and community stakeholders, Yes/Boston is creating new pathways to test and scale solutions that improve health outcomes and strengthen resilience."

Boston is uniquely positioned to become a global hub for food-as-health innovation.

The city of Boston is recognized globally for its leadership in healthcare, biotechnology and academic excellence. Through Yes/Boston, world-leading healthcare institutions, universities, food-system organizations, technology companies and public-sector stakeholders are working together to create pathways for innovators to pilot, deploy and scale solutions that improve health outcomes while strengthening food-system resilience.

The selected ventures will participate in a programme with local anchor MassChallenge, designed to connect them with the Yes/Boston ecosystem, coalition members including healthcare providers, community organizations, policymakers, researchers and corporate collaborators across the Boston ecosystem. The goal is to help promising solutions move beyond the pilot stage and into real-world deployment where they can deliver measurable impact.

The initiative is designed not only to support entrepreneurs but also to strengthen collaboration across the broader ecosystem. By bringing together stakeholders around shared goals, Yes/Boston aims to create a model that other cities can adapt as they seek to address interconnected challenges related to food, health and resilience.

The inaugural cohort reflects the breadth of innovation needed to help address food and health challenges as interconnected systems. Six of the selected ventures already have active operations, customers, pilots or programmes in Boston, while others have identified tangible partners and deployment pathways to bring their solutions to the city over the coming year.

Food production is increasingly being shaped by technologies that apply biology, automation and material science to extend shelf life, convert waste into new resources and strengthen the resilience of agricultural supply chains.

BioBlends is extending food shelf life through bio-based preservation technologies that could help reduce waste across food systems.

Mothership Materialsis transforming food waste and invasive biomass into feedstocks for local biomanufacturing through modular processing facilities.

RevivBio is applying automation and artificial intelligence to accelerate the discovery of biological solutions that support more resilient agricultural systems.

Getting nutritious food to the people who need it requires efficient infrastructure and logistics as well as stronger connections between producers, distributors and city residents.

Family Dinner is building shorter, more resilient local food supply chains by connecting consumers directly with regional farmers.

FoodCopia provides a shared logistics platform that helps food banks and community organizations coordinate inventory and distribution.

Gyre Energy is developing cooling technologies that can reduce costs and emissions across cold-storage infrastructure.

Morrissey Market is creating infrastructure that enables healthcare providers to prescribe nutritious food as part of patient care, connecting clinical systems with food delivery and access networks.

Nutrition is increasingly being shaped by technologies that deliver personalized food information, formulate healthier meals and expand access to meal delivery.

EatLove uses nutrition intelligence technology to deliver personalized nutrition recommendations and meal planning tools.

EatWell Meal Kits combines food-as-medicine meal kits with education and analytics to support people managing chronic disease.

Matriark Foods transforms surplus vegetables and agricultural by-products into nutritious food products, reducing waste while creating new pathways to healthy eating.

Access to food and healthcare depends on communities’ ability to navigate complex systems. New technologies are helping bridge those gaps.

Health in Her HUE reimagines healthcare for women of colour through culturally responsive healthcare providers, trusted health information and supportive virtual communities.

ThriveLink uses AI-powered navigation tools to help families access healthcare and social support programmes, including those who may face barriers related to literacy, internet access or technology.

The Yes/Boston innovators reflect broader trends reshaping technology and urban food systems. The group includes companies from Boston, other parts of the United States and international markets, demonstrating the global interest in deploying solutions through city-based innovation ecosystems.

The initiative also reflects the Forum's broader Yes/Cities model, which brings together governments, entrepreneurs, investors, community organizations and leading companies to accelerate local innovation while generating lessons that can be replicated elsewhere.

"The future of food will be shaped by entrepreneurs who can turn bold ideas into scalable businesses with measurable impact," said John Dutton, head of UpLink at the Forum. "The innovators selected through Yes/Boston are demonstrating how technology, collaborations and community engagement can work together to strengthen food systems, improve health outcomes and create solutions that can be scaled far beyond a single city."

The goal extends beyond supporting individual ventures. Yes/Boston aims to create a model that other cities can adapt — one that connects innovators with public, private and community organizations to accelerate solutions that improve health outcomes and strengthen urban resilience.

Yes/Boston as a living laboratory will also contribute to a growing body of knowledge about how cities can use innovation ecosystems to tackle complex social challenges. By testing, deploying and refining solutions locally, similar initiatives can help generate practical lessons that inform efforts in other urban centres around the world.

As many cities grapple with rising healthcare costs, chronic disease and access to nutritious food, the need for integrated solutions will become more urgent. Programmes that connect entrepreneurs, institutions and residents offer a promising pathway for turning innovation into measurable impact.

The result is not simply a stronger innovation ecosystem. It is the foundation for healthier, more resilient cities.