Food incubators and accelerators are designed to launch seed and early-stage startups in the food and beverage industry. If you’re starting your own kitchen, joining one of their programs will typically translate to both financial and professional support as you scale your ideas to fit the needs of your target demographic.
Food startups that want to develop their menu, purchase the right equipment, and hire the right staff can lean on an incubator or accelerator to make recommendations, provide consulting services, set up networking events, grant direct capital, etc. However, every program and incubator will have its own perks based on their resources and directives, so it’s important to have a handle on what you can expect. If you want our top picks, consider these heavyweights.
Top Food Accelerators and Incubators
Food startup incubators can help with all stages of your venture, meaning they can be just as helpful at the beginning of your venture as they are by the time you officially open for business. Whether you want to make over the sprinkler systems for crops or sell your own ice cream, a good incubator will give your company the push it needs to get off the ground. The key is picking one in your niche.
1. Techstars Future of Food
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Funding Amount: Up to $120,000
Techstars Future of Food, formerly Techstars Farm to Fork, is an accelerator created in partnership with Ecolab. The program is built for startups looking to accelerate feeding the growing population with focus placed on safety and sustainability. All startups that participate in Techstars accelerators are eligible for funding up to $120,000 with $20,000 in equity financing and an optional $100,000 convertible note.
2. Chobani Incubator
Location: New Berlin, New York
Funding Amount: $25,000
Launched in 2016, the Chobani Incubator was built for small food and beverage startups that are transforming the food system for the better. The incubator has supported 47 companies since its inception including Partake, Afia, and Mason Dixie. The program provides startups with equity-free capital, mentorship opportunities, and workshops to support the founder’s education surrounding sales, marketing, finance, and operations.
3. Good Food Accelerator
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Funding Amount: None
The Good Food Accelerator was founded in 2015 to empower entrepreneurs in the food space through skill-building curriculum, intensive coaching with industry experts, and access to a community of over 100 members in the food entrepreneur space.
The company offers three accelerator programs: Go To Market (G2M), Accelerate For Growth (A4G), and Market Access Program (MAP). Each program includes different curriculum and mentorship opportunities as well as varying durations from four weeks to four months.
4. Union Kitchen
Location: Washington D.C.
Funding Amount: None
Union Kitchen is an accelerator that helps startups in the packaged food space. You can craft your recipe in its certified commercial kitchen, scale your business to reach more territories and consumers, and kickstart your learning by taking classes through the incubator. The 90-day program is composed of four phases: launch, product market fit, growth, and scale to provide food startups with all of the skills they need to build startups that last.
5. Mission Ventures
Location: London, United Kingdom
Funding Amount: £10,000-£20,000
Mission Ventures offers three programs for food-based startups: the Good Food Programme, Launchpad, and Thrive with Sainsbury’s. The Good Food Programme built for health food startups that provides entrepreneurs with £15,000 and two years of support for their company by industry experts. Launchpad is a three-month program for mission-driven food startups that provides £10,000 in funding as well as support for prototyping and package design.
Thrive with Sainsbury’s is an incubator program for black-owned food brands created in partnership with Sainsbury’s and Foundervine. Participants receive £20,000 as well as more than 150 hours of one-on-one and group learning opportunities.
6. Food Foundry
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Funding Amount: $15,000
Built in collaboration with Relish Works and Gordon Food Service, Food Foundry is a founder community and accelerator program dedicated to food entrepreneurs disrupting the industry. Their accelerator program is for pre-seed and seed stage startups. Participating startups receive one-on-one mentorship, workshops led by industry experts, and networking opportunities. Plus, all startups that participate in the Food Foundry accelerator program receive $15,000 in equity-free funding.
7. Plug and Play
Location: Silicon Valley, Chicago, Milan, and Asia Pacific
Funding Amount: None
The Plug and Play Tech Center hosts accelerator programs for a myriad of startup industries. Their food and beverage accelerator programs are available twice a year and span three months. Participating startups receive business development support, access to networking and pitch events, mentorship, and potential funding. Focus areas of the program include personalized nutrition, automation, functional foods, and waste reduction.
8. The Kitchen FoodTech Hub
Location: Ashdod, Israel
Funding Amount: Varies
The Kitchen FoodTech Hub is attempting to disrupt every part of the supply chain, including logistics, sustainability, quality control, production, and marketing. These are food and beverage industry experts who understand how food is made, distributed, and consumed, and the team is there to nurture startups so they can make real changes in a sector that could use some revamping.
9. THRIVE by SVG Ventures
Location: Los Gatos, California
Funding Amount: None
THRIVE by SVG Ventures is an advisory firm for agricultural technology in both the public and private spaces. The incubator is known for helping companies scale their operations with the help of strategic advice, a vast network, and an eye on global expansion. Each of the four programs is separated by stages starting at the ideation and research stage and ending at the scale-up stage.
10. Mylkcubator
Location: Madrid, Spain
Funding Amount: None
The Mylkcubator is a program offered by Pascual Innoventures dedicated to cellular agriculture technologies and fermentation technologies. Startups looking to transform the food industry by developing alternatives to dairy, egg, coffee, sweeteners, and sodium as well as functional ingredients can gain a variety of benefits from the program.
Participating startups receive specialized learning opportunities, research and development (R&D) support, access to a global network of mentors and events, and the opportunity to pitch to angels, venture capitalists, and corporations at the end of the program.
11. Colombia Foodtech Acceleration Program
Location: Colombia
Funding Amount: None
The Colombia Foodtech Acceleration Program by Vertical-I and Eatable Adventures is a hybrid, four-month program built to scale Colombia-based startups in the food tech sector. The program is backed by the Gobernación del Atlántico or Colombian government. Eligible participants receive specialized programing, mentorship, global networking, technical assistance, and the opportunity to pitch their startup at the end of the program at demo day for investors.
12. Big Idea Ventures
Location: New York, Singapore, Paris
Funding Amount: $200,000
Big Idea Ventures offers a five-month accelerator program for food tech startups that do not use animal products unless they are cell-based. Participating companies receive an extensive number of services including lifetime support from the Big Idea team, office access, expert mentorship, demo days, and one-on-one sessions with industry experts on operations, manufacturing, sales, and food science. Plus, the program provides startups with $200,000 in funding, $75,000 of which is used to pay for the accelerator program.
13. StartLife Agrifoodtech Accelerator
Location: Wageningen, Netherlands
Funding Amount: None
StartLife’s ArgiFoodTech Accelerator is a 12-week, non-equity program built for early-stage startups within the agritech and food tech sectors. Participants receive valuable support to validate their business idea, raise capital, and scale their businesses. To be eligible for the program, startups must have a minimum viable product (MVP), have at least two founders that can participate in the accelerator, and be addressing a relevant social, health, or environmental need.