Mars, the food company behind brands like M&M's, Snickers and Milky Way, is launching a new startup accelerator in Chicago to find fast-growing healthy food brands.
Mars announced earlier this month that it has selected six companies to participate in its inaugural Seeds of Change accelerator program. The companies were chosen from more than 200 applicants, and whittled down from 10 finalists, who all presented in front of a live audience and panel of judges on July 19 at Chicago food incubator The Hatchery.
The six companies include:
- Prommus: Chicago-based Prommus is bringing purpose to traditional Middle Eastern cuisine starting with a line of value-added hummus that is non-GMO and vegan. The startup also helps provide school meals to children in food-insecure areas of the world—donating 20,000 meals since their launch last summer.
- Brooklyn Delhi: Brooklyn Delhi creates nutritious condiments and sauces for modern American meals inspired by the culinary traditions of India.
- Fora: Fora makes non-dairy butter, and plans to soon launch other products with a taste, functionality and convenience better than their animal-based counterparts.
- NoBull Burger: NoBull Burger is a line of hand-crafted, premium veggie burgers that uses only real-food, high-quality ingredients to make a plant-based veggie burger.
- Oxtale: Oxtale partners with acclaimed chefs from each cuisine it represents to craft delicious, convenient "starters" to help people cook traditional dishes in under 30 minutes.
- True Made Foods: True Made Food turns condiments like Ketchup, BBQ Sauce and Sriracha into superfoods by replacing added sugar with real vegetables.
Each startup received a grant of up to $50,000 and will participate in a tailored four-month program to scale its business.
Mars isn't the only large food brand operating a startup program in Chicago. Last year, Kraft Heinz launched Springboard, a Chicago-based incubator that helps grow early-stage food brands. Kraft Heinz also operates Evolv Ventures, a $100 million Chicago-based VC fund that backs food companies.
Tyson Foods has a $150 million startup venture fund in Chicago. It has also announced partnerships with Chicago tech incubator 1871 and Plug and Play, an innovation platform and accelerator in Silicon Valley, to connect with more startups.
