The Food Foundry Cohort 1

How it works

Financing
The Food Foundry will provide startups who are accepted into the program with $75K of venture capital funding to grow their business.

Resources
We connect startups to national foodservice business resources, provide a targeted yet flexible curriculum, and support companies with dedicated mentors and our team of innovation and design professionals.

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 nations brightest food startup hotspots -Chicago, Illinois.

Mentors

Gordon Food Service's top leaders, as well as Relish and 1871's network of successful entrepreneurs, experts, and investors support The Food Foundry companies throughout the accelerator program.

Who you are

An innovative early-stage startup that is actively pursuing disruption within the middle of the foodservice value chain and ready to scale to the next level.

Example include: 3rd party delivery, block chain, emerging technologies (IoT, AI, sensors, AR/VR, autonomous vehicles, robotics), food as medicine, food safety, food science, food waste, hydroponics/vertical farming, labor solutions, loyalty programs, meal kits, transparency, and anything else that is potentially disrupting and reshaping foodservice in North America. Exceptions include CPG and agriculture companies which are not in scope.

Who we are

The Food Foundry is a Chicago-based 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 foodservice industry.

Our mission is to help grow companies who are positively influencing food's journey to our tables.

For additional detail please visit our website: thefoodfoundry.com or reach out to Program Manager, Laura Habegger, laura@relishworks.com.