Bernhard Kowatsch is Head of the United Nations (UN) World Food Programme (WFP) Innovation Accelerator, which he created in 2015. The Accelerator sources, nurtures and scales start-ups and non-profit organisations working to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of Zero Hunger. It also runs accelerator programmes for external partners such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Humanitarian Grand Challenge and other UN agencies. Since its inception, the Accelerator has provided funding to over 100 innovations and has expanded to cover all 17 SDGs. In 2021, the Accelerator’s project portfolio positively impacted over nine million people, while innovations it has supported have raised over $180m in co-funding. Accolades include ‘Best Workplaces for Innovators’ in 2020 and 2021 and ‘Innovation Team of the Year’ in 2020 by Fast Company, for whose ‘Innovative Leader of the Year’ award Kowatsch was a finalist in 2021. Prior to starting the Accelerator, he co-founded the award-winning ShareTheMeal app that crowdsources funding for WFP and has delivered over 150 million meals to food-impoverished children worldwide. Previous experience includes creating WFP’s Business Innovation Unit and working as Project Leader at Boston Consulting Group. Kowatsch holds three master’s degrees from HEC Paris and Vienna University of Business and Economics.