Techstars

Techstars Central LLC, founded in 2006 and based in Boulder, Colorado, operates as a startup accelerator and venture capital firm focused on supporting early-stage technology-oriented companies. It specializes in a mentorship-driven accelerator program, selecting ten startups each summer to participate in a three-month incubation period, offering funding of $120,000 in exchange for equity. Techstars invests primarily in sectors such as fintech, artificial intelligence, blockchain, augmented reality, and IoT, while avoiding investments in medical devices, healthcare technology, and local service-oriented businesses. In addition to its primary accelerator, Techstars has various specialized programs, including those focused on music, retail, mobility, and social impact, with global reach extending to regions such as Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The firm prefers taking minority stakes, typically between six and ten percent, without seeking board representation or investor rights. Techstars has built a robust network of entrepreneurs, mentors, and corporate partners to foster innovation and growth within its portfolio, which includes over 1,000 companies with a significant collective market capitalization.

Ethan Austin

MD of the Techstars Western Union Accelerator

Max Kelly

Managing Director of Techstars London

Lesa Mitchell

Managing Director

Vijay Tirathrai

Managing Director

Mark Tortorella

Advisor

Nathanial Zola

MD

Past deals in FMCG

Fez

Seed Round in 2023
Fez is a logistics platform focused on providing hassle-free delivery services to customers. The company offers an application that facilitates last-mile delivery within urban areas, allowing users to book deliveries, manage their wallets, and track their orders. By enabling the movement of goods from any point in the country, Fez aims to deliver affordable, fast, and efficient delivery solutions. The company is committed to ensuring a stress-free experience for both senders and recipients, emphasizing their duty to deliver packages with care and reliability.

Femly

Pre Seed Round in 2021
Femly LLC, founded in 2016 and based in Baltimore, Maryland, manufactures and distributes feminine hygiene care products. The company offers a variety of plant-based and environmentally friendly items, including organic cotton tampons, day and night pads, menstrual cups, and body care products. Femly caters to women directly through its online platform and provides monthly subscriptions, online ordering, and home delivery services. Additionally, its products are available in restrooms at various organizations such as hotels, co-working spaces, and colleges. By focusing on sustainable and health-conscious options, Femly aims to meet the needs of modern consumers in the feminine care market.

jalebi

Pre Seed Round in 2021
jalebi is an early-stage B2B food-tech startup unifying a food businesses content + data value-chain, transforming rudimentary and inefficient processes in a surging $8.1 trillion global industry.

Dispatch Goods

Funding Round in 2021
Dispatch Goods Inc. manufactures reusable steel containers and boxes for food delivery ecosystem. The company offers containers for the elimination of the disposable food ware. It serves restaurants and food trucks. The company was founded in 2018 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Milk Moovement

Seed Round in 2021
Milk Moovement is a Developer of a dairy supply chain management platform designed to track milk pick-ups and monitoring milk production. The company's platform is a comprehensive tool that tracks dairy production and quality by using a cloud-based web and mobile solution, giving users access to key information in real-time, enabling all supply chain stakeholders (producers, processors, transporters, testing labs, and cooperatives) to have access to milk performance metrics and in-depth information on current production, quality, and historical data right at their fingertips.

PWRFWD

Pre Seed Round in 2021
PWRFWD is an online marketplace that drives the Athlete to Consumer industry. PWRFWD is pioneering the Athlete-to-Consumer industry by empowering athletes to connect with fans on a deeper level through their own custom-made products. It’s an end-to-end solution for all the tricky parts of e-commerce — development, design, marketing, manufacturing, fulfillment, and customer service.

Milk Moovement

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Milk Moovement is a Developer of a dairy supply chain management platform designed to track milk pick-ups and monitoring milk production. The company's platform is a comprehensive tool that tracks dairy production and quality by using a cloud-based web and mobile solution, giving users access to key information in real-time, enabling all supply chain stakeholders (producers, processors, transporters, testing labs, and cooperatives) to have access to milk performance metrics and in-depth information on current production, quality, and historical data right at their fingertips.

FeedX

Pre Seed Round in 2020
FeedX is marketplace for animal feed. We build mission critical digital infrastructure that powers the animal feed industry. We are building an easier to use, more efficient, animal feed supply chain to save buyers and sellers time and money.

Vervet

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Vervet is a manufacturing company that specializes in retail, sales, and distribution of beer and cocktails.

Repeat

Seed Round in 2020
Repeat is a SaaS platform that enables consumer-packaged-goods (CPG) brands to turn one-time buyers into repeat customers. CPG brands use Repeat to give their customers faster, personalized reordering experiences—from email, from text, from anywhere.

Peekage

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Peekage is an online product sampling platform that helps CPG companies to increase brand awareness, boost sales, fetch early market feedback and build brand loyalty. With Peekage, marketers can target a specific audience, have a gamified two-way communication channel with consumer and retarget samplers based on their behaviour.

Fitco

Seed Round in 2020
Fitco is a management and retention software that helps fitness boutiques and sports centers in the growth of their business. Fitco is a management and CRM software for fitness centers and a mobile app for fitness users. The company is helping fitness centers to grow and build communities. FITCO helps companies take advantage of technology to streamline their processes and operations and make their service more efficient.

Craste

Pre Seed Round in 2019
Employing and incorporating the model of Circular Economy to achieve our vision. We are on a mission to judicially and responsibly use limited available resources. Creating a positive impact in the environment is the core purpose of our organization. The ability to make a change and being a significant contributor of that change drives them.

FLY BY JING

Pre Seed Round in 2019
They put uncensored chinese flavours and the highest quality ingredients together and tell to make nice.TheyBELIEVE IN REAL: REAL FOOD, REAL PEOPLE, AND REAL MOMENTS THAT BRING US TOGETHER TO DISCOVER SOMETHING SPICY, ODDLY SATISFYING AND SLIGHTLY SAVORY.

kencko

Seed Round in 2019
kencko foods, inc. produces and sells organic fruit and vegetable products in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The company offers sachet-based drink, including ten pack, thirty pack, and sixty pack. kencko foods, inc. was founded in 2017 and is based in New York, New York with a processing facility in Lisbon, Portugal.

Farmcrowdy

Seed Round in 2019
Farmcrowdy is an agric-tech platform that gives Nigerians the opportunity to participate in Agriculture by selecting the kind of farms they want to sponsor. They use the sponsor’s funds to secure the land, engage the farmer, plant the seeds, insure the farmers and farm produce, complete the full farming cycle, sell the harvest and then pay the farm sponsor a return on their sponsorship. While this farm process is ongoing, the farm sponsors are able to keep track of the full-cycle by getting updates in text, pictures and videos.

Flashfood

Series A in 2019
Flashfood Inc. is a Toronto-based company that has developed an app aimed at reducing food wastage by connecting grocery stores and restaurants with consumers looking for discounted surplus food. The platform allows vendors to sell high-quality, surplus items at steep discounts, thereby increasing their revenue while simultaneously providing savings for shoppers. Users can browse local deals, purchase items directly through the app, and pick them up in-store. Since its founding in 2016, Flashfood has focused on addressing the issues of food waste and promoting sustainability in the food supply chain.

Fresco

Pre Seed Round in 2018
FRESCO is revolutionizing the cooking oil market in order to allow anybody to make any dish tastier and healthier, transforming a commodity, like olive oil, into a premium and emotional product. For this reason they developed the first solution to make the best condiment ever, the fresh olive oil. Fresco experience is easy and exciting: all you need is EVA, the first mini-oil mill, and his frozen olives Pulps. Thanks to their multi-skilled team and outstanding partners, they concluded the prototyping phase and they raised €1,0M. In May 2018 they have entered the B2B market with a pre-order campaign and they have already sold 50 subscription plans.

kencko

Pre Seed Round in 2018
kencko foods, inc. produces and sells organic fruit and vegetable products in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The company offers sachet-based drink, including ten pack, thirty pack, and sixty pack. kencko foods, inc. was founded in 2017 and is based in New York, New York with a processing facility in Lisbon, Portugal.

Repeat

Convertible Note in 2018
Repeat is a SaaS platform that enables consumer-packaged-goods (CPG) brands to turn one-time buyers into repeat customers. CPG brands use Repeat to give their customers faster, personalized reordering experiences—from email, from text, from anywhere.

kencko

Pre Seed Round in 2018
kencko foods, inc. produces and sells organic fruit and vegetable products in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The company offers sachet-based drink, including ten pack, thirty pack, and sixty pack. kencko foods, inc. was founded in 2017 and is based in New York, New York with a processing facility in Lisbon, Portugal.

PopCom

Seed Round in 2017
PopCom, Inc. designs and manufactures vending machines for consumer products. PopCom, Inc. was formerly known as Solutions Vending International and changed its name to PopCom, Inc. in August 2018. The company was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

Farmcrowdy

Seed Round in 2017
Farmcrowdy is an agric-tech platform that gives Nigerians the opportunity to participate in Agriculture by selecting the kind of farms they want to sponsor. They use the sponsor’s funds to secure the land, engage the farmer, plant the seeds, insure the farmers and farm produce, complete the full farming cycle, sell the harvest and then pay the farm sponsor a return on their sponsorship. While this farm process is ongoing, the farm sponsors are able to keep track of the full-cycle by getting updates in text, pictures and videos.

PopCom

Pre Seed Round in 2017
PopCom, Inc. designs and manufactures vending machines for consumer products. PopCom, Inc. was formerly known as Solutions Vending International and changed its name to PopCom, Inc. in August 2018. The company was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

Flashfood

Seed Round in 2017
Flashfood Inc. is a Toronto-based company that has developed an app aimed at reducing food wastage by connecting grocery stores and restaurants with consumers looking for discounted surplus food. The platform allows vendors to sell high-quality, surplus items at steep discounts, thereby increasing their revenue while simultaneously providing savings for shoppers. Users can browse local deals, purchase items directly through the app, and pick them up in-store. Since its founding in 2016, Flashfood has focused on addressing the issues of food waste and promoting sustainability in the food supply chain.

Farmcrowdy

Pre Seed Round in 2017
Farmcrowdy is an agric-tech platform that gives Nigerians the opportunity to participate in Agriculture by selecting the kind of farms they want to sponsor. They use the sponsor’s funds to secure the land, engage the farmer, plant the seeds, insure the farmers and farm produce, complete the full farming cycle, sell the harvest and then pay the farm sponsor a return on their sponsorship. While this farm process is ongoing, the farm sponsors are able to keep track of the full-cycle by getting updates in text, pictures and videos.

Freshline

Pre Seed Round in 2017
Freshline is an eCommerce and fulfillment platform designed for perishable food suppliers who sell directly to consumers. Initially launched as Coastline in 2016, the company focused on connecting fish farms and fisheries with high-end restaurants, utilizing the founders' extensive experience in the perishable food supply chain. Over four years, Coastline established seafood supply lines from various countries, including Japan, Mexico, and Vietnam, achieving approximately $4 million in annual revenue. In response to the changing market dynamics during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company pivoted to Freshline, adapting its business model to better serve direct-to-consumer needs while maintaining a focus on fresh and quality perishable products. Based in Vancouver, Canada, Freshline continues to innovate in the food supply sector.

FIGS

Venture Round in 2017
FIGS, Inc. is a healthcare apparel company that specializes in the design and production of high-quality scrubs and related medical apparel for both men and women. Founded in 2012 and based in Los Angeles, California, the company offers a variety of products including scrub tops, scrub pants, lab coats, underscrubs, outerwear, footwear, compression socks, and loungewear. FIGS markets and sells its products primarily through digital platforms, generating sales within the United States. The company is committed to providing premium medical apparel to healthcare professionals.

kencko

Angel Round in 2016
kencko foods, inc. produces and sells organic fruit and vegetable products in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada. The company offers sachet-based drink, including ten pack, thirty pack, and sixty pack. kencko foods, inc. was founded in 2017 and is based in New York, New York with a processing facility in Lisbon, Portugal.

GVMachines

Seed Round in 2015
GVMachines is a holding company for CartFresh.com and Zakaz.ua.

CartFresh

Seed Round in 2015
CartFresh is a white-label online grocery SaaS platform. They help grocery chains achieve success in new customer acquisition through cutting-edge pickup or delivery service. Since 2011, we have enabled the successful delivery of over 350,000 orders. In partnerships with METRO Group (METRO C&C Ukraine ), Auchan, Fozzy Group, NOVUS, and others we expanded their addressable audience by millions of households. Their solution is designed for retailers to grow their customer base through an elegant web store and mobile app that fully reflect the values of their brand. Our cloud-based robust platform is fully equipped with all e‑commerce fulfillment and delivery options. Yegor Anchyshkin, co-founder of CartFresh, previously co-founded Viewdle, a multi-million dollar project that had been acquired by Google Inc. in 2012 and became a landmark deal for the Ukrainian IT market.

feedPack

Seed Round in 2013
FeedPack keeps the customer at the heart of your company. We recognise that the customer experience is key to a successful business. Our personalised customer-centred solutions enable a comprehensive understanding of the customer experience and provide an insight to aid improvement and drive growth. We deliver Real-Time analytics so businesses can keep reactive to service and product performance. Our services enable rapid trend identification and confident decision making.

Given Goods

Seed Round in 2013
Given Goods Company is the marketplace for beautiful, high-quality products that give back. By curating thousands of products that all make a tangible social impact, from tote bags and jewelry to home décor, Given Goods is redefining the consumer retail experience. Brands both established and emerging are feeling massive upward consumer demand for products that create meaningful social impact. Given Goods is already working with 115 brands and offering over 1,200 products and 4,500 SKUs in order to connect mainstream consumers to high-quality products that give back. Buying social impact products today is the equivalent of buying natural and organic foods 10 years ago—consumers wanted them but they were incredibly difficult to find. Whole Foods changed that. They captured an emerging yet fragmented market to create an enduring movement. Given Goods is driving the next large scale shift in consumer behavior.

Freight Farms

Pre Seed Round in 2013
Freight Farms, Inc. specializes in manufacturing hydroponic crop production units constructed from up-cycled shipping containers. Their flagship product, the Leafy Green Machine, is a pre-assembled system that enables commercial-scale production of various crops, including herbs like mint and basil, as well as lettuces and brassicas such as kale and cabbage, regardless of climate or season. Founded in 2010 and based in Boston, Massachusetts, the company aims to enhance food accessibility in regions where traditional farming is challenging. By facilitating high-yield crop production, Freight Farms supports the development of local food economies and sustainable food systems for a diverse clientele, including business owners, farmers, educational institutions, municipalities, and non-profits across the United States, Canada, and Europe.

FastCustomer

Seed Round in 2011
FastCustomer, Inc. offers FastCustomer, a mobile application that enables users to skip hold and talk directly with a human in customer service at various companies, including Fortune 500 companies. Its application works on iPhones and Android phones. The company was founded in 2011 and is based in Washington, District Of Columbia.

Food Genius

Seed Round in 2011
Food Genius, Inc. is a technology company based in Chicago, Illinois, that specializes in data and menu analysis for the food industry. Founded in 2010, it provides a web-based platform known as Food Genius Reports, which offers insights into restaurant menus and emerging trends by analyzing data from various dining establishments across the United States. The company caters to a diverse clientele, including brands, manufacturers, distributors, and restaurant chains, delivering comprehensive reports and analytics that address complex foodservice business questions. Its services range from competitive price tracking to statistical analyses of menu items, supporting clients in making informed decisions. Food Genius serves notable companies such as Kraft, Coca-Cola, and Arby’s, and operates as a subsidiary of US Foods, Inc.