If you’re a startup innovating in the food and agriculture sector based in Boulder, Colorado, stop what you’re doing and pay attention! Rabobank, the global food and agribusiness bank, is bringing its FoodBytes! event to the city on Wednesday, October 26 and you can get involved.
The event centers around a pitch competition between 10 pre-selected startups, that face questions from a judging panel and the audience. There are other panel discussions and presentations during the day too.
Towards the end of the day, the audience will vote for its favorite pitch, giving startups a chance to win the People’s Choice Award.
Previous People’s Choice Award winners include seaweed-based pasta maker Seamore, at-home water garden developer Back to the Roots, produce seconds redistributor Imperfect Produce, and specialty food products provider True Made Foods.
The winning company at the event will attend Rabobank’s premier invitation-only Client Appreciation Events in December 2016 where they’ll have a chance to connect with C-suite representation from over 300 leading food, beverage, and agribusiness companies.
The panel of industry experts will also award a Judges’ Choice Award to the company the demonstrates the most creativity, sustainable practices, growth potential, and social innovation.
The event will be held at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and will attract a mix of industry professionals, including food, tech, and agriculture investors and startups, as well as agribusiness executives and industry influencers.
Investors attending the event will have an opportunity to mingle with up-and-coming companies disrupting various stages of the food supply chain, from production to distribution to consumption.
Launched in 2015, Rabobank created FoodBytes! in an effort to identify game-changing ideas in the food and agriculture space and pair those concepts with the capital it takes to bring them to market. It has held events in San Francisco and Brooklyn. So why Boulder?
Boulder has made a name for itself in recent years as a food-focused hub innovating primarily in the natural foods segment.
“Boulder has exploded onto the food scene in recent years, producing some of the most creative restaurants, food pioneers and cutting-edge concepts. The city represents a true melding of food, tech and venture capital, and we are thrilled to be bringing FoodBytes! to this flourishing city,” said Manuel Gonzalez, western region head of Rabobank North America Wholesale and founder of FoodBytes. “I’m particularly excited to see the ideas and concepts the presenting companies have to share. The inventiveness we see on the stage at each FoodBytes! is truly impressive, and we’re thrilled to offer a platform that can connect this creativity with the capital needed to bring it to market.”
Agtech startups and investors that call Boulder home include cannabis accelerator CanopyBoulder, and drone startup Agribotix. The Founder Institute, an idea-stage incubator and self-dubbed largest entrepreneur training program in the world, is based in Colorado and there’s also The Colorado Fresh Food Financing Fund.
Whole Foods Market, which is a clear supporter of food tech innovation, is sponsoring the event; back in May the retailer started selling alternative protein startup Beyond Meat’s new Beyond Burger.
Interested in pitching your startup for FoodBytes! Boulder? Apply here by Monday, September 12. The 10 selected finalists will give a five-minute pitch each, while 10 runners-up companies will give 60-second pitches.
Tickets for the event are already on sale and can be purchased here.
Sponsored
4 big barriers to commercialization and how agrifoodtech startups can conquer them