PepsiCo announced the 10 startup finalists for the third edition of its Greenhouse Accelerator Program in the Asia-Pacific, an initiative to fast-track innovation across sustainable agriculture, the circular economy, and climate action, at an event in Shanghai on Thursday.

These early-stage startups will benefit from expert mentorship, access to PepsiCo's networks, and have the opportunity to pilot their solutions in real-world market conditions, helping scale commercially viable innovations that can strengthen resilience and sustainability across the food and beverage value chain.

"Now in its third edition, the Greenhouse Accelerator is becoming a powerful platform for surfacing promising ideas that respond to some of the most urgent sustainability challenges in the Asia-Pacific," said Anne Tse, CEO of PepsiCo Asia-Pacific.

"From climate resilience to circular packaging and smarter agriculture, we're seeing bold thinking that is both locally grounded and globally relevant. We're excited to back these early-stage innovators and learn from them as we explore ways to scale practical solutions across our value chain," she said.

The 2025 cohort demonstrated how emerging technologies, including AI-powered lifecycle assessments, precision agriculture, mobile recycling, and molten salt energy storage, are applied to improve sustainability outcomes across traditional systems. These startups from Australia, China, Indonesia, Singapore, and South Korea are building practical, scalable tools that reduce environmental pressure and help accelerate resource-efficient progress across sectors such as food, energy, and waste.

"Actually, several of our 2024 Greenhouse Accelerator finalists are exploring how AI can accelerate sustainability, for example, through smart waste-sorting technologies. Such collaborations represent promising spaces where advanced technology and environmental goals can converge," said Jim Andrew, executive vice-president and chief sustainability officer of PepsiCo.

Since its launch, the program has awarded over $1 million in grants, launching 16 pilots across APAC and contributing to pilots and innovation partnerships that have taken place across more than 11 manufacturing sites and farms, said the company.

PepsiCo said it recognizes that the long-term success of its business is closely tied to the health of the planet, resilient food systems, and thriving communities.

"In agriculture, we've piloted drone photography and satellite imaging technologies from partners like Agroscout to support more precise field monitoring. In early-stage applications, this approach indicated potential to reduce fertilizer usage by 20 to 50 percent, offering a pathway toward more resource-efficient farming," said Andrew.