Techstars and Ecolab Inc. announced on Monday the latest cohort of startups that will participate in the Farm to Fork Accelerator, which provides funding, access and programming for early-stage entrepreneurs in the food-technology industry.
The connecting theme of this year’s cohort focuses on solutions in the sectors of sustainability, labor, supply chain, human and animal health, and new alternatives. Companies from six countries are participating in the class, and about half of the participants self-identify as fitting into underrepresented demographics. The cohort kicked off Monday.
This year's group includes the first local company in Farm to Fork’s six years: Tavolo is a Minneapolis-based startup that helps restaurants automate their marketing. Other companies come from places like Chicago, Nigeria and the U.K.
During the first month of the three-month program, entrepreneurs meet with 100 mentors in just the first few weeks. Mentors are subject-matter experts, serial entrepreneurs or investors.
The second month is focused on execution, where the acceleration comes into play and entrepreneurs are “heads down into the business, taking everything that they learned” and applying it, said Sarah Bain, managing director of Techstars. The third month centers on storytelling and helping entrepreneurs craft their pitch.
This year’s participants include:
- BeChained: An AI-powered, energy-tech digital twin based in Barcelona, Spain, that aims to help industrial consumers save money, energy consumption and CO2 emissions from efficiency in production
- ConnectedFresh: A New York City-based monitoring system that automates tasks and tracks equipment to prevent food safety risks and emergency expenses
- Farmshare: An online farmer's market, Farmshare is a Denver-based software-as-a-service-enabled online marketplace designed to connect local food producers — like farmers, ranchers and fishers — directly with consumers.
- Gentian: A U.K-based application that measures and tracks vegetation ecology by combining AI, deep ecological knowhow and remote sensing
- Goodie Bag: A Boulder, Colo.-based service connecting customers to local shops' surplus food at a discounted price, which can help reduce food waste and support local businesses
- OrdrSmart: A Chicago-based platform that enables consumer-packaged-goods brands and ingredient suppliers to create and maintain a strong ingredients supply chain
- Population: The environmental health and safety operating system “for the food industry's last mile.” Population is based in San Francisco.
- Puebla.io: Based in New York, Puebla offers supply-chain collaboration for tropical commodities with real-time information on pricing and logistics.
- Rubilabs Veterinary Services: Revolutionizing livestock care in Africa with final-mile delivery for vaccines and other animal health products. Rubilabs is based in Nigeria.
- Tavolo: An AI-driven restaurant analytics platform based in Minneapolis that enables business owners to automate marketing
- Uuvipak: A 100% home compostable material created from upcycled food waste and designed to eradicate single-use plastic. Uuvipak is based in Australia.
- xBlock: An AI assistant for restaurants based out of the greater Seattle area that connects all data into one system to better communicate with customers, staff and managers across multiple devices
More than 50 startups have previously completed the program and more than 300 mentors across the food, agriculture and venture capital ecosystem have connected to the network. The Farm to Fork portfolio has raised $154 million with a total market cap of $379 million.
“We are thrilled to welcome an incredible group of talented founders to Minnesota this summer for our Farm to Fork Accelerator,” Bain said in a press release. “This year’s cohort delivers forward-thinking solutions that address the most dire issues across the food space and the ways technological innovation can be implemented for efficiencies.”
