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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

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Applications Are Open for THRIVE’s Ag Tech Accelerator Program

SVG Ventures’ THRIVE platform, which connects farmers, food tech companies, corporations, and investors, is now taking applications for Cohort VII of its THRIVE accelerator program. Typically, the program looks for seed-stage startups from all over the world whose solutions have a tech angle and aim to make the agricultural system more efficient, sustainable, and secure.

The upcoming cohort will run March through June, 2021, according to email from THRIVE sent to The Spoon. Selected companies will participate in the three-month-long program. Like other accelerator programs operating in the midst of the pandemic, Cohort VII will be a mix of virtual and onsite work, with the latter being in the Salinas and Central California growing regions.

THRIVE’s program looks for early- to growth-stage startups working in a number of different areas of food tech: robotics and automation, indoor farming, supply chain management, and biotech, to name a few. Trace Genomics, FarmWise, and Harvest Automation are a few notable alumni of the program. 

Admission to the program is competitive: THRIVE has said in the past it has an acceptance rate of less than 3 percent and pulls from an applicant pool of more than 500 startups from around the world. Of those, just eight are chosen to participate in the accelerator program.

Selected companies receive $75,000 investment ($37,500 in cash and $37,500 in program value). The program website notes there is opportunity for follow-on investment. Startups also receive mentorship opportunities and access to corporate partners and farmers via the THRIVE network. The program ends with a Demo Day at the annual Forbes AgTech Summit.

Separate from the accelerator program, this year SVG /THRIVE have also launched the THRIVE Global Initiative in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S Department of State. Through a series of “challenges” in different regions around the world, THRIVE will award startups for innovative solutions, beginning with the THRIVE Australia Challenge on December 17, 2020. Challenges in Canada and Africa will follow in 2021.

Meanwhile, the THRIVE accelerator program kicks off in March 2021. Applications are open until November 20, 2020.

Hey, Startups! Applications Are Now Open for These Food-Focused Accelerators

My crystal ball tells me that come early 2020, we’ll get numerous announcements from startup accelerators and incubators opening the application process for their programs. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to wait another several months if you’re ready to start shopping your startup to a program right now. With that in mind, here’s a quick roundup of some remaining food tech accelerator programs still taking applications in 2019.

Are we missing a program? Email tips@thespoon.tech with details and we’ll consider it for inclusion in future versions of this post.

Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) Accelerator Program
Kansas City, MO

The DFA, a national cooperative of family farmers in the U.S., is starting to recruit startups for the 2020 class of its accelerator program, which focuses on both dairy innovation and agri-tech areas like data management, herd health management, supply chain, food traceability, and more.

Successful applicants will take part in a 90-day cohort that is a combination of virtual programming and about four weeks of onsite work at the DFA headquarters in Kansas City, MO. Participants get guidance on product development and marketing, as well as access to DFA executives and potential investors. The DFA is specifically looks for companies it can strike longer-term relationships with.

Applications are taken on a rolling basis, while the next program starts on March 30, 2020.

FoodTech Accelerator
Milan, Italy

Powered by Deloitte and based in Milan, Italy, the FoodTech Accelerator picks 10 startups each year to participate in its 15-week program. The program covers a pretty wide range of areas in the food industry, from CPG to agri-tech to automation and packaging innovation. Notable alumni include Inspecto and Wasteless.

Selected participants will work with mentors to validate their products and scale their business. Companies also get access to cash contribution and services (in exchange for up to 6 percent equity), potential investors, workspace in Milan and an introduction to the European food tech ecosystem. The program ends with a demo day where companies pitch to investors.

Applications close on September 30, 2019.

Thrive Accelerator
Salinas, CA

The Thrive Accelerator, run by Silicon Valley-based SVG Partners, is a four-month program geared towards pre-Series A startups working in a range of agritech areas, including supply chain management, animal health, biotech, robotics, indoor farming, and farm software, to name a few. Thrive selects 10 companies to participate in the program, which is part virtual and part onsite in Salinas, CA. The program ends with a demo day at the Forbes AgTech Summit in Salinas.

Thrive invests $100,000 in each startup accepted ($50,000 in cash and $50,000 in program value), with opportunity for further investment. The program also provides two mentors per company, networking opportunities, access to farmers (with whom startups can conduct field trials) and weekly webinars that cover everything from effective fundraising to go-to-market strategies.

Applications close October 31, 2019.