Federico Heller MBA’26J, INSEAD Scholarship recipient, is determined to tackle one of the greatest global challenges of our time: how to sustainably feed a world projected to reach 10 billion people by 2050.
“The world is growing fast,” he says. “We are consuming more and more — but we still don’t know how we will feed everyone sustainably. I want to help fix that.”
Originally trained as a Food Engineer in Uruguay, Federico built his foundation at the intersection of science, technology and food production. What began as academic curiosity quickly became a clear mission: to rethink how food systems operate — reducing waste, improving efficiency and ensuring long-term sustainability.
His undergraduate studies, fully funded through a merit-based scholarship, shaped his perspective on opportunity and responsibility. “When someone invests in you, it creates a responsibility,” he reflects. “You want to prove that investing in people is worth it.” That early support allowed him to focus on excellence — and to graduate with distinction after completing a zero-waste research project on dairy industry by-product reutilisation.
Today at INSEAD, supported by a Scholarship, Federico sees his MBA as a transformational step. “Scholarship means hope,” he shares. “After INSEAD, I want to shape the future in a responsible way. I want to combine my engineering background with the business knowledge and global perspective I gain here to create solutions that improve the world.”
His ambition is to become an entrepreneur in sustainable FoodTech, developing scalable solutions that reduce food waste, increase productivity responsibly, and create fairer, more resilient food systems. As global demand accelerates, he believes innovation — guided by responsible leadership — will be critical to ensuring food security for future generations.
For Federico, the Scholarship is far more than financial support. It is a catalyst. It provides access to world-class business education, global networks, and the strategic tools needed to turn technical expertise into real-world impact. Most importantly, it represents belief — belief that talent, when empowered, can help solve complex global challenges.
Federico’s journey illustrates what scholarships make possible at INSEAD: exceptional talent from around the world gaining the education and platform to shape industries that matter to us all. By supporting scholarships, donors enable leaders like Federico to transform ambition into action — and ideas into sustainable solutions for a rapidly changing world.
