December 20, 2017

Expanding into the tech arena, Cargill announced that it is partnering with water and hygiene tech company Ecolab and venture-capital network and facilitator Techstars to launch the Techstars Farm to Fork Accelerator in Minneapolis in 2018.

Recognizing the vital role that technology will play in the creation of a safer, more sustainable food supply chain, the partners have launched the accelerator to identify entrepreneurs, and new technologies including food-focused digital technology, food processing technologies, agtech, supply chain efficiencies, and food safety technologies that will drive the future of food. However, for Cargill, the launch also aligns with the company’s strategic plan initiated in 2015 for greater diversification into higher value endeavors.

“This Accelerator allows us to invest our time and resources in technology shaping the future of agriculture, and to address some of the greatest challenges facing the food system,” said Justin Kershaw, CIO, Cargill. “At the same time, we see the partnership with Techstars as a way to inject startup energy inside Cargill, where we are committed to creating a culture that fosters technology innovation through internal expertise and external partnerships.”

In January the program will begin selecting its first class of 10 startups, which will then take part in a 13-week program located in Minneapolis beginning next summer. The program will foster the ability of its cohort to raise capital, develop their technologies, and build their brand.

Although the capital commitments by the partners was not released, mentors from Cargill and Ecolab will participate in the program, providing marketing, networking and capital support, while Techstars also will provide access to its own network of partners, entrepreneurs, and mentors.

“Both Ecolab and Cargill are well positioned to help farm-to-fork entrepreneurs understand and address changing food trends,” said Douglas M. Baker Jr., chairman and CEO, Ecolab. “Participants in our accelerator program will benefit from Ecolab’s expertise in sustainable food processing and food safety, as well as Cargill’s knowledge of agriculture and food production.”

The accelerator is expected to continue for a period of three years, engaging with both early and late-stage startups that have a common goal of effecting an positive change on the food supply chain.

“Minnesota was literally built by food entrepreneurs more than 150 years ago, and entrepreneurs continue to thrive in the state’s quickly expanding, yet supportive ecosystem,” said Brett Brohl, Techstars Farm to Fork accelerator managing director. “The Farm to Fork Accelerator will build on this rich history, leveraging Cargill’s reach and leadership in food and agriculture as well as Ecolab’s expertise in safe food, clean water and healthy environments. Combined with Techstars’ proven accelerator model, we can truly help entrepreneurs take their companies to the next level while making a positive social impact.”

The Age of Acceleration

Partnerships created by food companies designed to launch food tech accelerators have been in the news more frequently as companies see acceleration as a means of getting in on the ground floor on the next wave of growth in the sector.  In June 2016, agriculture, food, and beverage investment bank Rabobank partnered with San Francisco-based technology campus RocketSpace to launch Terra, an accelerator dedicated to the agtech and food industries.

That same month Finistere Ventures, Cloud Break Advisors, and an alliance of industry leaders that includes Bayer, DuPont, and leading Israeli venture capital firm OurCrowd launched the $15 million accelerator fund, Radicle, at Global AgInvesting’s AgTech Week.

This year, however, has seen an uptick in activity surrounding accelerators and innovation hubs for the advancement of food tech. In June, Nestlé USA announced it had partnered with Rabobank and San Francisco-based technology campus RocketSpace to foster food and agtech startups through the Terra Food + AgTech Accelerator.

In November, Italian pasta brand giant Barilla launched Blu1877, a new hybrid venture capital fund and innovation hub designed to foster the growth of food-based startups focused on categories that are related to, or tangential to Barilla’s business. Barilla also is launching an innovation hub called the Open Innovation Hub, which will give its chosen cohorts of startups access to advice and expertise from a network of advisors and mentors regarding product development, safety, packaging, marketing, quality and food regulations. Startups also will have the ability to use Barilla’s advanced food research lab, design thinking space, and its 100,000-square foot pilot facility where innovators may produce small-scale production runs of new products on an experimental basis.

And in early December of this year, Acre Venture Partners, the $125 million venture capital fund launched by Campbell Soup in February 2016, and Techstars Ventures co-led a $13 million Series A funding round for Pilotworks, an accelerator for food startups that includes a network of food incubators, mentors, and entrepreneurs.

“There couldn’t be a better time for this program,” said Brett Brohl, Techstars Farm to Fork Accelerator managing director. “Food trends affect everyone. Entrepreneurs, consumers, investors and companies all over the world are increasingly aware of the growing challenges in the food value chain. The corporate leadership provided by Ecolab and Cargill, and the Techstars worldwide network, will help entrepreneurs succeed in this changing environment.”

-Lynda Kiernan