List: Food Startup Pitch Competitions

food startup pitch competitions

Before you raise money to expand your food startup, you will probably want to bootstrap the company for as long as possible. That means finding customers, generating cash as soon as possible, and keeping overhead costs low while you test product-market fit.

Pitch competitions (and grants and other entrepreneurial competitions) can be very helpful to early-stage companies. Potentially more valuable than the money you might earn will be the feedback that you receive on your business model and the visibility you stand to gain from pitching your business to a crowd of strangers.

Many competitions are either regionally focused or industry focused. Connect with your local Small Business Administration office and regional development offices to see if you qualify for any competitions that don’t appear on this list below of food and agriculture startup pitch competitions. 

Good luck!

AGreen Startup Competitioncompetition for very early-stage ag startups, located in France, sponsored by SIVAL
Angel Challengepitch competition for Norwegian companies
Electrolux Ideas Labcompetition with a focus on homecooking
Farm Bureau Rural Entrepreneurship Challengecompetition for American food and ag startups
Fish 2.0seafood focused, Asian and New England focused tracks
Food+Cityurban food systems
Food Fundedentrepreneurship and investor fair
FoodBytespitch competitions in food and ag in multiple US cities
Foodpreneur 2017national competition for British food and beverage companies
FoodTech FastTrack Silicon Valleyput on by Startupbootcamp; accepts 10 companies
Forward Food CompetitionSponsored by Campbells and General Mills
Future Agro CompetitionGlobal Competition in Food, Agtech and Agriculture
Future Food Tech SFnetworking event
Lemelson-MIT Student Prizeone prize category is food; geared toward college students
Maine Innovation ChallengeMaine focused
Pitchfestpart of the Food + Enterprise Summit
Rabobank-MIT Food & Agribusiness Innovation Prizegeared toward college and grad students
SXSW Eco ConferencesStartup showcase and competition as part of South By Southwest,
Thought For Foodinternational startup competition, takes place in a different city every year

Are we missing a pitch competition? Let us know! Have a success story you want to share? Reach out.

Be the first to comment on "List: Food Startup Pitch Competitions"

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published.


*