GROW Impact Accelerator Invites Applications From Startups Fostering Food Sustainability
January 19, 2021
GROW is based in Singapore, at the heart of Asia Pacific. Image credit: lena_serditova / iStock
GROW, the impact venture builder backed by AgFunder, is now accepting applications for its 2021 Impact Accelerator program. This is a unique opportunity for startups operating in new frontiers of foodtech and agtech to supercharge their growth by tapping into a global network with GROW as their gateway to Asia and the world.
This program marks the GROW Impact Accelerator’s second cohort, backed by AgFunder’s GROW Impact Fund. It will include bespoke coaching, mentor support, expert sessions, peer learning, and access to AgFunder’s unrivaled industry network to help businesses scale aggressively into new markets around the world. Successful applicants will receive US$200,000 in cash and in-kind investment on founder-friendly terms.
Agrifood is the sector where impact investors expect to increase their allocation the most over the next five years, according to the Global Impact Investing Network’s 2020 investor survey. Startups participating in the GROW Impact Accelerator will be given the tools to implement ESG principles and to track how their technology solutions help bring positive impact to people, place, and planet. We deliver a complete program that will provide access to experts, partners, potential customers, and impact-focused investors.
Last year, GROW ran its Singapore Food Bowl program, focused on accelerating early-stage startups that can contribute to local food security. Find out more here
Established to advance sustainability in the agrifood system through its support of extraordinary founders, GROW has designed the GROW Impact Accelerator program to propel not just commercial growth for participating startups, but personal growth for the entrepreneurs behind them. As venture capital investors we are in pursuit of profit, but GROW will also imbue in its alumni an ethos of doing well by doing good; one that will remain with them long after the program has finished.
The GROW Impact Accelerator is based in Singapore but will be conducted as a fully virtual program until international travel resumes. Applicants should have an MVP, be well on the way to establishing product-market fit, and should be operating in at least one market. Our interests stretch end-to-end across the agrifood value chain with a focus on technologies that allow for scalability while delivering on impact creation.
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Areas of particular interest for our 2021 intake include (but are not limited to):
Biotech and digitalization to advance sustainable agriculture;
Circular economies (eg, sustainable materials and closed-loop production systems);
Climate-smart agriculture and aquaculture (technologies for carbon emissions reduction, regenerative agriculture, water use);
Alternative proteins, innovative foods, and novel ingredients;
Food waste valorization;
Supply chain rationalization;
Technologies to support smallholder farmers (eg, robotics, decision support, chemical reduction, financial inclusion).
To encourage as diverse and representative a cohort as possible, GROW is especially interested in receiving applications from teams with at least one female founder.