Food Startups: Apply to Join Local Food Lab's Winter Accelerator by Jan 14

Local Food Lab is a startup lab for the ideas and companies that will change the food system. We create impact through entrepreneurship. By providing state-of-the-art entrepreneurial education and a dynamic network of diverse professional mentors, Local Food Lab supports entrepreneurs in transforming their ideas into thriving, sustainable ventures. The final day to apply to our Palo Alto, CA Winter Food & Farm Startup Accelerator is January 14 at midnight PST. Apply here.

The Local Food Lab Accelerator is a six-week program located in the heart of Silicon Valley that helps entrepreneurs take an early stage idea for a food or farm startup and turn it into a complete business plan and product concept. We will work with any food or farm idea that simultaneously shows strong business potential and a social commitment. Entrepreneurs well suited for our program are those interested in creating startups that offer packaged and prepared food products, catering and food services, food+tech products, urban to medium-scale agricultural products and services, and programs that expand the interest and demand for a more sustainable food system.

Each session is organized around a critical element of business education, and always through the lens of creating a food system that is more healthy, just and resilient. Topics covered include market and industry analysis, product and service design, financial forecasting, sales and marketing strategy, development of a social mission s

tatement, management of a mission aligned team, and the effective pitch and presentation of a new business. Students will meet and learn from a wide variety of food and agriculture industry mentors to develop and grow their startups and networks. Lunch or dinner will be included at every class session.

Participating startups will also have the opportunity to work one-on-one with MBA students from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business who are focusing their studies on the business of food.

The Winter Accelerator will culminate in a capstone event, a Venture Fair, to be held at Stanford University's Design School. The Venture Fair will allow students to showcase their startups to investors, industry leaders, potential co-founders and key partners in the good food economy.

Participating in LFL’s Accelerator is a great way to validate a startup idea while surrounded by other food system entrepreneurs and experts. The community of startups established during our Accelerators lives on long after the program concludes.
Local Food Lab Alumni include:
Chef Surfing
Real Good Food
Hungry Globetrotter
My American Pantry
Valley Girls Foodstuffs
Brunched in the Face
And more…

Meet the Local Food Lab Mentors

Local Food Lab will also hold a Spring Accelerator in New York City from April 8 – May 14. Applications for our NYC Accelerator will open on January 25 and will be due March 6. Early applications are eligible for a partial scholarship towards the cost of the program.