In the last year, Chicago has seen a handful of major food startup deals, like the $350 million fundraise from Nature's Fynd, and the $100 million raise by Foxtrot. Now, the city is set to strut its food startup momentum to outside investors in a new venture summit.
The Chicago Venture Summit Future-of-Food event taking place May 25–26 will bring together hundreds of investors and food-focused startups for a meeting that the city hopes will result in more deals getting done for Chicago startups.
The food summit is the the first sector-specific venture event from World Business Chicago, the city's economic development arm. WBC first held the Chicago Venture Summit in 2014, and the event has featured speakers like Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick and investors Ben Horowitz and Peter Thiel.
This year's event will feature keynotes from two well-known business leaders: former McDonald's CEO and Cleveland Avenue founder Don Thompson, and Tracey Warner Halama, the CEO of Vital Proteins.
Chicago-based Cleveland Avenue has raised hundreds of millions to invest in food upstarts, including a $70 million fund targeted specifically to Black and Latino founders in Chicago. Vital Proteins, a Chicago-based maker of popular collagen supplements, sold a majority stake to Nestlé Health Science, the nutritional science subsidiary of Switzerland-based Nestlé, in 2020.
This year's event will also feature startup showcases, networking events and other opportunities for out-of-town investors to meet Chicago's top food startups, WBC said.
WBC counts more than 2,600 food innovation companies currently headquartered in Chicago. Other food firms to land funding this year include jerky startup Chomps' $80 million round, restaurant tech firm Science on Call's $1.6 million and 15-minute grocery delivery service Food Rocket's $25 million.
"Chicago has proven itself to be a leading hub in the world for food innovation," said Michael Fassnacht, president and CEO of World Business Chicago, in a statement.
