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Techstars
Techstars Future of Food Accelerator Powered by Ecolab
Startup program
Hybrid: In-person & virtual
Accepts up to 12 startups
13 weeks
No initial funding
0% equity
  • Background
  • What we're looking for
  • What we can offer you
  • Who we are
  • Q&A

Partnered with Ecolab, the Techstars Future of Food program looks to accelerate startups within the food system—supply chain, manufacturing, restaurant tech, robotics, sustainability.

Background

The future of our food depends on harnessing technology to create a more sustainable and equitable food system for all. In the seventh year of the program, Techstars, in partnership with Ecolab, continues to expand the focus across the food value chain. We’re looking for founders innovating in restaurant and retail tech, food production, labor, supply chain and logistics, water, and sustainability space.

What we're looking for

Areas of interest
We're interested in startups focused on areas including:
  • Restaurant Tech and Retail Tech: Kitchen Tech & Robotics, Back of House Operations Tech, Automation, Kitchen Enablement tech/software, AI/ML/Vision, Labor optimization/elimination, Food waste, cleaning & sanitation
  • Food Production: Supply chain tech, digital technology, AI/ML, labor optimization/elimination, food waste, clean & safe food and water, cleaning & sanitation
  • Labor: Automation & efficiency, compliance & training, acquisition & retention, safety & security
  • Supply Chain & Logistics: Redundancy & optimization, net zero, smart manufacturing/modular manufacturing, food waste
  • Sustainability: Water, energy, bioenergy/biomaterials, scope 3
Startup location
  • Accepting applications from startups based in all countries
Stage of funding
We're looking for startups at the following stages:
  • Pre-seed
  • Seed
Acceptable technology readiness levels (TRL)
We're looking for startups with solutions in the following TRL range:
Levels 1-7
What we can offer you
Benefits:
Investment
initial investment of up to $120,000 paired with more than $4M in perks and an invaluable global network of alumni, mentors, and investors in exchange for ~6-9% equity. See Techstars terms - https://www.techstars.com/newsroom/investment-terms
Networking
Connections and introductions to mentors, executives, experts, investors, and entrepreneurs from Fortune 500 companies like Ecolab, Cargill, General Mills, Target, Land O’Lakes, 3M, etc.
Facilities and Services
Office space
Who we are

The Techstars Future of Food Accelerator Powered by Ecolab will provide a wide network of executives, subject matter experts, investors, and entrepreneurs within the Techstars ecosystem and broadly across the food ecosystem. Techstars is the world's most active early-stage investor. We have 64 portfolio companies. If you have any questions or would like to learn more, please don’t hesitate to reach out to the Arthur Parens, Investment Analyst for the Future of Food Accelerator. His email is: arthur.parens@techstars.com.

Q&A with Techstars

The Q&A is now closed.

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In-Person Locations

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States

Eligible partners
Startups
Seeking partners focused on
Artificial IntelligenceBioenergyFood Chemistry & BiochemistryFood Engineering & ProcessingFood MicrobiologyFood SafetyFood ScienceMachine LearningNatural Resource ManagementNutrition
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