A
STARTUP
ACCELERATOR
PROGRAM
RETHINKING
THE
WAY
FOOD
MOVES
Our mission is to help grow companies that are positively influencing Food’s journey to our tables.
The Food Foundry is a Chicago-based growth accelerator program by Relish Works built in partnership with Gordon Food Service and 1871. The Food Foundry supports, connects, and propels innovative startups who are reimagining the food industry.
Our
Startups
Cohort 1 Startup, Local Food Connection, Successfully Acquired
WE
SUPPORT
YOU
IN
THREE
WAYS
01
FINANCING
We provide startups who are accepted into the program with $75k of venture capital funding to grow their businesses. Please see our FAQ page for a further explanation of funding.
02
RESOURCES
We connect our startups to national foodservice business resources, provide a targeted yet flexible curriculum, and support them with dedicated mentors and access to our team of innovation and design professionals.
03
COMMUNITY
We host a number of events and workshops that connect startups with like-minded entrepreneurs, seasoned mentors and industry experts within one of the nation’s brightest food startup hotspots – Chicago, Illinois.
We're searching for startups who are disrupting the food industry.
The Food Foundry is focused on finding disruptive solutions within the food ecosystem -topics like 3rd Party Delivery, emerging technology (Blockchain, Supply Chain, IoT, AI, Sensors, AR/VR, Autonomous Vehicles, Robotics, Warehousing), Food as Medicine, Food Safety, Food Science, Food Waste, Hydroponics/Vertical Farming, Labor Solutions, Loyalty Programs, Meal Kits, or anything else that is aiming to disrupt and reshape the food industry in North America. If you’re playing in this space, we want to hear from you. Please note: we are not a program for CPG focused startups.
Demo
Day
2019
It takes a village to make a program successful and we were excited that over 200 Food Foundry supporters came out to cheer on and celebrate our inaugural cohort on Demo Day.
