Every day, perfectly good food goes to waste, while people not far away go hungry. At the Innovate for Humanity hackathon in Stockholm on 17 September, our Niclas Ihrén teamed up with four other participants to tackle exactly that: how do we bring surplus food to the people who need it?
The answer became Unhunger, and the idea won.
About the hackathon
Innovate for Humanity, part of the CrossView Meetings series, was organised by Innovation Pioneers and Impact Hub, together with the ML Ops Stockholm community, and held at CMNTY in Stockholm. The day was built around 17 sprint challenges, one for each of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and the solutions could be anything from apps and platforms to services and business models. Participants worked in teams all day, and in the evening every team showcased what it had built. A jury assessed each project on innovation, feasibility and impact. Thomas Herrström from Matters Group was also there on the day.
The idea: Unhunger
Unhunger is an infrastructure that connects three groups: those in need of food, those with surplus food resources, and the logistics partners who manage the distribution in between. During the day, the team built a prototype that shows how this can work in practice.
What makes the idea interesting is that it is designed to adapt to very different contexts:
- European markets, where the solution can plug into existing food retail and donation structures.
- US markets, with different stakeholders and financing models.
- Crisis regions such as South Sudan, where logistics, partners and financing look completely different.
The core stays the same, while the stakeholders and financing modalities change with the context.
Recognition
The winning solution received prizes to support the continued development of the idea from Innovation Pioneers, Impact Hub, Exoscale and Lovable. We are grateful for the recognition, and for the team that made it happen: Daina Byčiūtė, Niclas Ihrén, Sebastian Nguyen, Matias Pakarinen and Charles Arvidsson.
Why this matters to us
At Matters Group we work to keep resources in use, whether it is materials in buildings or food in a supply chain. The challenge is often the same: the value already exists, but it is not connected to the people who need it. Unhunger is a reminder that the right infrastructure and the right partnerships can close that gap.
The team is not stopping here. As Daina put it, the food won’t wait, and the mission now is to take Unhunger further.
Think. Act. Matter.
Thank you to Impact Hub Stockholm, Innovation Pioneers, the jury and everyone who took part for a day full of energy.
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