Investor directory

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.

Focus

Pre Seed RoundSeed RoundArtificial IntelligenceMachine LearningSeries AShow more
http://techstars.com/ventures
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https://twitter.com/techstars
https://www.capitaliq.com/CIQDotNet/company.aspx?companyId=431767203
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Ethan Austin

MD of the Techstars Western Union Accelerator

Mark Tortorella

Advisor

Nathanial Zola

MD

Past deals in Food Processing

Caddy

Pre Seed Round in 2021
Caddy automates food processors' everyday workflows to unlock smarter food safety and traceability. It was founded in 2020 and is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario.

Hya Bioplastics

Pre Seed Round in 2021
Hya Bioplastics is a startup focused on producing biodegradable food packaging made from re-engineered plant fibers. The company utilizes proprietary decentralized manufacturing technology to create cost-competitive biodegradable solutions, aiming to provide sustainable alternatives to petroleum-derived plastics. Hya Bioplastics is also developing a patent-pending process that enhances the production of bioplastics from plant waste fibers, contributing to environmentally friendly packaging options.

Phood

Seed Round in 2021
Phood is a startup company developing a food waste prevention platform that aims to reduce food waste. The platform utilizes data analytics and artificial intelligence to capture the food that businesses, such as restaurants, are purchasing, preparing, and are stored in refrigerators or on shelves to cut food waste in half and helps food businesses build a more resilient food system and supply chain. IN 2015, Luc Dang and Nick Kruczek established the company New York, New York.

IXON Food Technology

Pre Seed Round in 2020
IXON specializes in advanced sous-vide aseptic packaging (ASAP) that allows protein to remain stable at room temperature for up to two years. It exclusively owns the patent of ASAP, as well as technologies surrounding ASAP. This includes technologies related to processing, packaging, analytical, and food hygiene. They license and custom-make equipment for food manufacturers, so they can have exclusive rights to make and distribute ASAP food products. They also assist in product development, product testing, plant design, plant construction, operation management, hygiene maintenance, corporate training, and patent enforcement, so that our partners have little to worry about and are guaranteed commercial success.

Phood

Pre Seed Round in 2019
Phood is a startup company developing a food waste prevention platform that aims to reduce food waste. The platform utilizes data analytics and artificial intelligence to capture the food that businesses, such as restaurants, are purchasing, preparing, and are stored in refrigerators or on shelves to cut food waste in half and helps food businesses build a more resilient food system and supply chain. IN 2015, Luc Dang and Nick Kruczek established the company New York, New York.

Planetarians

Seed Round in 2019
Why: When the alternative meat consumption grows from the current 2% to a projected 23%, where will the industry get proteins? Isolation, fermentation, cultured… all of them require it’s own ingredients for proteins. They might be not so readily available in the food system on the Earth… What: PLANETARIANS developed a new platform to make alternative meats from animal feed (Sunflower, Corn DDGS, Pulses). Skipping protein isolation it uses just 0.5:1 water (no chemicals). Product prototypes have umami taste, improved protein quality and lower costs than meats made from isolates and concentrates. How: Solid-state fermentation converts carbs in the ingredients into extra protein in addition to inherent one and improves PDCAAS. Wet extrusion works as a kill step and creates a meat-like texture.

Slice of Sauce

Pre Seed Round in 2019
Slice of Sauce is a handmade food products company.

KitchenMate

Seed Round in 2018
Reshaping your food experience with the only automated restaurant for your workplace. Stay safe, stay on-site with real food, cooked anytime powered by our plug-&-play Smart Cooking System.

PathSpot

Convertible Note in 2018
PathSpot Technologies, Inc. develops and manufactures a system controlled by a software that protects restaurants and their customers from the threat of food-borne illness. It utilizes a unique algorithm for filtering, processing, and analyzing fluorescent light to scans an employee's hands to detect pathogens that cause food borne illness. The company was founded in 2017 and is based in New York City, New York.

KitchenMate

Seed Round in 2018
Reshaping your food experience with the only automated restaurant for your workplace. Stay safe, stay on-site with real food, cooked anytime powered by our plug-&-play Smart Cooking System.

KitchenMate

Seed Round in 2018
Reshaping your food experience with the only automated restaurant for your workplace. Stay safe, stay on-site with real food, cooked anytime powered by our plug-&-play Smart Cooking System.

Planetarians

Convertible Note in 2017
Why: When the alternative meat consumption grows from the current 2% to a projected 23%, where will the industry get proteins? Isolation, fermentation, cultured… all of them require it’s own ingredients for proteins. They might be not so readily available in the food system on the Earth… What: PLANETARIANS developed a new platform to make alternative meats from animal feed (Sunflower, Corn DDGS, Pulses). Skipping protein isolation it uses just 0.5:1 water (no chemicals). Product prototypes have umami taste, improved protein quality and lower costs than meats made from isolates and concentrates. How: Solid-state fermentation converts carbs in the ingredients into extra protein in addition to inherent one and improves PDCAAS. Wet extrusion works as a kill step and creates a meat-like texture.

Planetarians

Pre Seed Round in 2017
Why: When the alternative meat consumption grows from the current 2% to a projected 23%, where will the industry get proteins? Isolation, fermentation, cultured… all of them require it’s own ingredients for proteins. They might be not so readily available in the food system on the Earth… What: PLANETARIANS developed a new platform to make alternative meats from animal feed (Sunflower, Corn DDGS, Pulses). Skipping protein isolation it uses just 0.5:1 water (no chemicals). Product prototypes have umami taste, improved protein quality and lower costs than meats made from isolates and concentrates. How: Solid-state fermentation converts carbs in the ingredients into extra protein in addition to inherent one and improves PDCAAS. Wet extrusion works as a kill step and creates a meat-like texture.

Flowtify

Seed Round in 2015
Flowtify develops and operates a hygiene and quality management platform and application for food service industry. The software helps users implement HACCP (hygiene self-control system) documents in a traceable way in accordance with EU Regulation 852/2004 on tablets and smartphones. All checklists are documented paperlessly and archived in the cloud. Employees can perform tasks themselves with the aid of photos, videos and PDFs and, in the event of any abnormalities, notifications can be sent automatically to the relevant people.