FOOD-X Launch To Gather Food Innovators, Business Leaders, and Entrepreneurs
New York, NY / ACCESSWIRE / December 18, 2014 / Today FOOD-X, an NYC-based, food-business accelerator, debuted its first class of game-changing food entrepreneurs at its official launch event. The mission-driven accelerator was founded to scale change throughout the food system by equipping disruptive food businesses with the skills and funding they need to succeed in the food industry.
FOOD-X will hold two programming sessions per year for early-stage food startups. Companies are evaluated using 17 filter criteria to assess a business's mission, viability, and team. Once selected, companies complete an intensive 16-week program where they receive funding, workspace, continuous coaching, industry access, and expert-led mentor sessions from FOOD-X's deep mentor network, which include Ben & Jerry's Ben Cohen, Blue Hill's Dan Barber, and Food+Tech Connect's Danielle Gould.
"The time is right to empower the innovators and entrepreneurs who want to create real and lasting change in our food supply," says Shen Tong, FOOD-X Founder, Social Activist, and Serial Entrepreneur. "FOOD-X's success won't be judged by a deal sheet, but by our social impact and ability to build an ecosystem for better food."
On December 18, 2014, FOOD-X will bring together investors, business leaders, food experts, and media to celebrate its official launch. Event programming will focus on the theme "Feeding a Food Movement," and will include remarks from notable food luminaries:
- Dan Barber, Chef & Co-owner, Blue Hill & Author, The Third Plate
- Rocco DiSpirito, Award-Winning Chef & Best-Selling Author, The Pound A Day Diet
- Jodi Kahn, Chief Consumer Officer, FreshDirect
- Michael Moss, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Journalist & Best-Selling Author, Salt Sugar Fat
- Danielle Nierenberg, President, Food Tank: A Food Think Tank
The event will conclude with Demo Day pitches from FOOD-X's first accelerator class, which includes 10 food innovation startups chosen from hundreds of applicants:
- Agrilicious: a go-to website for all things local food, expanding the family-farmer connection, while celebrating its food experiences and benefits. agrilicious.org
- FoodieForAll: delivers to business customers from top restaurants, helping them expand their reach and profitability. foodieforall.com
- Green Blender: a smoothie delivery service that makes it fun and easy to indulge in your health, providing members five new smoothie ingredients and recipes each week. greenblender.com
- Greenease: a mobile app that connects consumers to restaurants, cafes and grocers buying from local and/or sustainable farms. greenease.co
- Local Food Lab: a global academy that empowers innovators to build a better food future, through training and opportunity in food, technology and entrepreneurship. localfoodlab.com
- Munchquick: an on-demand lunch delivery service on a mission to deliver health, convenience, and affordability while helping those less fortunate. munchquick.com
- Nextdoorganics: a triple bottom line local food distribution company working to replace the industrial food system by sourcing from urban farmers and food makers. nextdoorganics.com/
- Servy: a mobile app that acts as the anti-Yelp by crowdsourcing hospitality experts as next generation mystery shoppers to help restaurants improve. servyapp.com/
- Sian's Plan:makes it easier for busy families to eat well with an online recipe planner and grocery list solution that is integrated with grocery providers. siansplan.com
- Training Meals: delivers a wide variety of whole food based meals cooked sous vide to support a healthy and active lifestyle. trainingmeals.net
The launch event will take place on December 18, 2014 at Home Studios in New York City and will be live streamed on the FOOD-X website: http://food-x.com/ starting at 1:10p.m. ET.
Contact: Nicki Briggs, MS, RD, [email protected], 617.515.1564
SOURCE: FOOD-X