You can count on a few things for any summer in New York: the hum of thousands of air conditioning units, lengthy sessions in the park, the unmistakable smell of garbage on the curb. And nowadays, you can also count on a few lingering applications deadlines still open for the city’s fast-growing tech accelerator scene.
While many programs have already wrapped their application process, we dug up a few more NYC-specific ones that are still taking applications, with cohorts slated to start around fall 2019.
If you want the lowdown on food tech accelerators and whether your company would benefit from one, check out The Spoon’s recent Food Tech Fireside chat.
Future Food Co
FutureFoodCo helps companies grow from early-product-market phase to having at least some mainstream appeal (a category often called “early majority”). The program looks for food projects and entrepreneurs ready to scale up on a proof of concept. It counts Zoni Foods, Shroom Snacks, and Ozuké among its alumni.
Four to eight participants are selected for each five-month-long cohort. FutureFoodCo looks for small companies on track to gross more than $1 million in annual sales. While the program is based in NYC, participants do not have to relocate full time in order to take part in the program.
All participants receive $10,000 (4–8 percent equity) along with mentorship and advising opportunities, as well as the usual access to networking and potential investment.
Applications for cohort 6 are open now.
Food-X
Food-X kind of doesn’t need an introduction to Spoon readers at this point. The 14-week program — one of the most well-known in the food tech sector — works with early-stage companies from across the food system, though Program Director Peter Bodenheimer noted earlier this year that ingredient tech and “advanced technology” are two ares of focus for Food-X.
For the Fall 2019 cohort, Food-X offers $65,000 in cash (for 8 percent equity) upon a participant starting the program, office space (participants must relocate to NYC), mentorship, access to the Food-X community, including alumni, and access to potential investment opportunities.
Food-X typically takes eight companies per cohort. Applications are open until July 14.
Accel Foods
While it’s more of a venture fund than traditional accelerator, Accel Foods works with up-and-coming CPG companies to scale their businesses and get products to market. Specifically, the fund looks for brands that already have some loyal customer base and are on track to grow to $250 million and above. The fund started in 2013 and since then has grown to managing three separate funds that equal $85 million.
Current members of the Accel portfolio include Alpha (Plant-Based) Foods, Soozy’s, who makes grain-free baked goods, and Wandering Bear Coffee.
Accel takes applications on a rolling basis, and participation is determined case by case. Interested companies can drop the fund a line to kickstart the process.
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