Technology promises to transform the restaurant industry. From talent management and personalization platforms to ghost kitchens and corporate catering marketplaces, startups are aiming to help restaurants improve operations and increase revenue. How do these technologies and new operational models work? What do they actually mean for restaurants?

Join us at What’s Next in Restaurant Tech at WeWork HQ for a deep dive into Zuul, Harri and HUNGRY’s business models, technologies, challenges and lessons learned. You’ll also be able to network with the community, demo cutting edge restaurant technologies and sample innovative food & beverages.

Explore cutting edge technologies, including OpenTable, The.Fit, Plate IQ, ItsaCheckmate, BentoBox and more. Enjoy tasty bites and drinks from Hella Cocktail, Element Farms and more.

The post What’s Next In Restaurant Tech appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms promise to transform the food industry. Innovative startups are leveraging these technologies to change the way we produce, distribute and consume food — from early plant disease detection to streamlining product development and consumer insights. What is A.I.? How does it actually work? How are companies leveraging it and why?

Join us to hear from CEOs and COOs of companies that are building intelligence platforms from the farm to plate at our March Food+Tech Meetup, A.I. in Food. Founders will do a deep dive into their business models and technologies. We will also have networking with the community and lots of great food and drinks to sample from Bad Apple Produce, Artisan Revere, Silly Chilly Hot Sauce, Element Farms + More

Have an innovative product you’d like to share? Apply through our application here: https://bit.ly/2AXzYHa

SCHEDULE:
6 – 7:30pm: Networking + Company Showcase
7:30 – 9pm: Presentations + Q&A
9pm – 9:30pm: Networking

PRESENTERS:
Alon Chen, CEO & Co-Founder, Tastewise
Tastewise leverages AI to tap into the culinary consciousness that drives the world’s freshest food and beverage insights. Our platform analyzes billions of food data points – including menus, home recipes and social media – to provide real-time insights for restaurants, hospitality groups, and food brands. Capturing food innovation and observed consumer needs, Tastewise equips industry professionals to identify target segments and competitors, understand emerging trends, and determine which dishes or products should be served next. A senior Google executive for close to a decade, Alon Chen has a wealth of experience in leveraging AI and big data across technology, business and marketing. During his time at Google, Alon initiated and launched the Google Partners channel program in 27 countries, on-boarding 60,000 partners worldwide. Alon also served as Google’s Chief Marketing Officer for Israel and Greece and led the company’s relationship with the World Economic Forum. As Chief Business Officer for Voyager Labs, an AI and cognitive deep learning company funded by Oracle, Alon developed and led their AI marketing-tech eCommerce solution.

Riana Lynn, Founder, Journey Foods
Riana is the founder of Journey Foods, a platform and reporting interface that helps support new product development and nutrition precision. It is creating the future of nutrient consumption through food-forward biotechnology and plant-derived micro foods. Its first product line focuses on re-imagining fruit snacks and adding functional ingredient complexes to target immunity, digestion, energy and brain function. A biologist turned serial entrepreneur, Riana has developed high-growth, nationally recognized technology, and food businesses. Her accomplishments have been featured on CNBC, Forbes, USA Today, Wired, TechCrunch, Entrepreneur Magazine, among others.

Chris Chan, Chief Operations Officer, Farmwave
Chris Chan is the COO of Farmwave, a company that is transforming the world’s agricultural information into AI data models to power decision-making and preserve the future of farming. As Farmwave’s human Swiss Army knife, Chris leverages his experience in nonprofit management, technology consulting, and startups to facilitate ideation, develop strategy, and support product development. His efforts support the entire company, but he works most closely with the marketing, design and business development teams.

PARTNER

WeWork Labs is WeWork’s global innovation platform that supports early-stage startups and corporations seeking to transform their industries. Through our range of services, resources, and networking opportunities for early-stage startups, accelerators, incubators, VCs, and larger corporations, we create and empower an ecosystem of innovation open to anyone with a vision where the next generation of entrepreneurship can grow.

The post A.I. in Food appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Just 12 plants and 5 animals make up 75% of the world’s food supply. Almost half of our plant-derived calories come from just three foods: wheat, corn and rice. While estimates vary, it is believed that there are over 30,000 edible plants, and we only eat 150 of them. This is harmful to our planet, health and the communities that rely on them. While the conversation around sustainability typically focuses on how we grow our food, it’s time to focus on what we’re growing.

Biodiversity is crucial to the health and safety of our food supply. But to us, biodiversity in food means something even more. Biodiversity sits at the intersection of taste and sustainability, where we can simultaneously satiate an eater’s desire for new, interesting foods, while supporting a more diverse cornucopia of foods being cultivated in the world. As an industry, consolidation puts our food supply at risk and leaves a lot of opportunity – new flavors and food experiences – on the table.   

From building out supply chains with farming cooperatives abroad to partnering chefs and breeders to develop delicious plant varieties, companies are increasingly launching products and developing supply chains that support agrobiodiversity.

Join us to hear how game-changing startups are creating a more biodiverse food system at our February Food+Tech Meetup. Founders will do a deep dive into their business models, technology and supply chains. We will also have networking with the community and lots of great food and drinks to sample from Yolele, Kuli Kuli, Tender Greens, Kaibae, Rebbl + More

The post Food Biodiversity: Where Flavor and Sustainability Meet appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

As 2019 unfolds, nascent trends and paradigm-shifting innovations continue to rock the food industry. Fast-growing demand for plant-based alternatives are eating out sales of dairy and animal-based products. Recent trend reports claim 2019 is said to be the year plant-based meat goes mainstream. Functional foods have taken a more prominent role in the American diet. From personalization to direct-to-consumer models, startups are radically rethinking how food products are developed, packaged and sold.

Join us to hear from some of the game-changing startups who are rethinking CPG at our January Food+Tech Meetup. Speakers will do a deep dive into their business models, growth and technology.

The post Rethinking CPG appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

The post The Future Market at The Winter Fancy Food Show appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

It’s not easy being a food innovator. There’s no road map for reinventing an industry.

That’s why we’ve teamed up with ForceBrands to celebrate failure in all its glory at Fail Friday (on a Thursday). Join us to hear stories of failure and lessons learned from top food entrepreneurs.

We will also have food from emerging brands Mademeals, Partake Foods, Brooklyn Delhi, Yumi, New York Shuk and more as well as festive cocktails from Pomp & Whimsy.

SCHEDULE:
6:30 – 7:30: Networking, Snacks & Drinks
7:30 – 8:30: Failure Stories & Q&A
8:30 – 9:30: More Networking

SPEAKERS:
Erin Patinkin, Co-Founder, Ovenly; Executive Producer & Co-Host, Start to Sale
Erin Patinkin is the co-founder of the award-winning bakery Ovenly and executive producer & co-host of Start to Sale on Vox. She has been recognized as one of the most “badass women” in food by Zagat and Thrillist and as “one to watch” by Conde Nast, among other accolades. Erin speaks about her work at national events, and her writing has been featured in Lucky Peach, Vice, Cherry Bombe, and in her cookbook, Ovenly: Sweet & Salty Treats from New York’s Most Creative Bakery. She has appeared in on Good Morning America, The Chew, Unique Sweets, and in Eater, Bon Appetit, Inc, Food & Wine, The New York Times.

Ben Conniff, President, Luke’s Lobster
Ben Conniff is co-founder of Luke’s Lobster, a Maine-bred lobster shack with over 30 locations across 9 US cities and internationally in Japan and Taiwan. Luke’s controls their catch all the way from the docks to the plate, meticulously preparing and handling every claw, knuckle, and tail to make the world’s best-tasting lobster roll. Ben is also the author of Real Maine Food, and has written for Saveur, GQ, Tasting Table, and more. He was named to the Inc. and Zagat “30 Under 30” lists and serves as an advisor to restaurant, fishery, and agriculture businesses. He splits his time between Brooklyn, NY, and Portland, ME.

Chitra Agrawal, Founder, Brooklyn Delhi
Starting in Brooklyn, Chitra has been cooking, teaching and writing about food inspired by her family’s recipes from India for ten years. She co-founded Brooklyn Delhi with her husband Ben Garthus in 2014 to bring the flavors she was creating to a wider audience. Chitra is the author of Vibrant India: Fresh Vegetarian Recipes from Bangalore to Brooklyn (Penguin, 2017). Prior to Brooklyn Delhi, Chitra held marketing roles at American Express and DDB and completed her MBA at NYU Stern. Brooklyn Delhi’s award-winning condiments can be found in Whole Foods nationwide and in Blue Apron meal kits and have been featured by food critics at the NY Times, Saveur, Food & Wine and more.

Dr. Nicola Nice, Founder & CEO, Pomp & Whimsy
Dr. Nicola Nice is a sociology PHD, researcher and brand consultant. She launched Pomp & Whimsy to take back the role of women as cocktail innovators overlooked by history. For Victorian women, who were the chief home distillers and recipe makers at the time, the infusion of additional fruits or botanicals into gin made for a richer sipping spirit. With Pomp & Whimsy, we set out to breathe new life into this long forgotten tradition, while simultaneously updating it for a modern palate. Bringing fancy, modernity, and dare we say it, even a touch of femininity, to this stuffy, old world spirit.

PARTNERS:

ForceBrands is the leading specialized recruiting firm for the consumer products industry — we build the teams that build the brands. Our industry-specific divisions BevForce, FoodForce, BeautyForce, and HerbForce offer executive search services, board of director assembly, and a digital job board to connect directly to qualified candidates.

We are ‘people for a hire purpose’ and strive to transform the way consumer product professionals of all levels identify employment opportunities and employers are connected to world-class talent. Go HIRE with ForceBrands.

Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects. We are an independent, founder-controlled company of 132 people working together in an old pencil factory in New York City. Over 10 million people, from every continent on earth, have backed a Kickstarter project from films, games, and music to art, design, and technology.

The Brooklyn Brewery is made up of a rich collection of characters from all over the world. In our Williamsburg home, these characters are dedicated to brewing and selling great beer and enriching the communities we serve. Together, these Brooklyners have assembled the skills needed to transform a home brewing hobby into an independent brewery with a brand that has become an international beacon for good beer.

The post Fail Friday (on a Thursday) December 6th appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Blockchain technology has the potential to transform the food industry. Ten of the world’s biggest food companies have already joined forces to transform how the industry tracks food worldwide through this network. At the same time, new companies are emerging to introduce these technologies into the supply chain, demonstrating the potential it has to improve food system operations in several ways – from preventing foodborne illnesses to combating hunger.

Join us to hear from some of the game-changing startups who are deploying blockchain technology in our food system at our November Food+Tech Meetup. Founders will do a deep dive into their business models, technology, challenges and lessons learned. We will also have networking with the community and lots of great food and drinks to sample from Ginjan, 82 Labs, Bowery Farming, Believe in Bambara, Scraps, Burlap & Barrel, Amazi Foods + more!

The post Blockchain of Food appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

The gender gap is pervasive across the food industry. Women make the majority of food-purchasing decisions and represent nearly half the entry-level workforce in the food industry, yet less than a fourth of executives are women and even fewer are women of color. Women are less likely to raise capital and start food companies than men. Beyond the lack of financial support is a widespread lack of recognition and respect, which at times can go so far as sexual harassment and abuse. What can be done to move forward and uplift the women who are transforming our food system?

Join us for a discussion on the unique ways women are transforming our food system with Elly Truesdell of Canopy Foods, Valerie Christy of Almanac Insights, Jessamyn Rodriguez of Hot Bread Kitchen and Kimberly Chou of Equity at the Table & Food Book Fair.

The post Women Innovating Food appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Increasing demand for healthy, sustainable and personalized options has disrupted the CPG space. Big food companies are losing market share to startups with more nimble business models, greater consumer focus and faster innovation cycles. Since 2013, food and beverage startups have raised $9.5 billion across 2,100 deals globally. From direct-to-consumer functional foods to plant-based ingredient innovations, startups are radically rethinking how food products are developed, packaged and sold.

Join us to hear from some of the game-changing startups who are rethinking consumer packaged goods at our August Food+Tech Meetup. Founders will do a deep dive into their business models, approaches to product development and lessons learned. We will also have networking with the community and lots of great food and drinks to sample from, RIND Snacks, Dafero, Freville Farm, Lavva, The Worthy Company, Masienda, Egunsi Foods, Seek Food and DIRTY LEMON.

The post Rethinking CPG 2018 appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

It’s no secret that food waste is a massive problem. Every year, $218 billion is spent on food that is never eaten–amounting to 52 million tons sent to landfills annually. Another 10 million tons is discarded or left unharvested on farms. In response, a number of companies have emerged to tackle this issue. From repurposing food waste into added-value products to recovering nutrients from food that is thrown away, join us to hear from innovators in the space at our June Food+Tech Meetup. Presenters will do a deep dive into their business strategies, technologies, challenges and lessons learned.

Come network with the community and get a taste from emerging F&B startups: Ancolie, Rescuing Leftover Cuisine x Breads Bakery, ReGrained, Misfit Juicery, Gotham Greens, Local Roots NYC, Food for All and Toast Ale USA!

SCHEDULE:
6:30 – 7:15pm: Networking
7:30 – 9:00pm: Presentations + Q&A
9:00 – 9:30pm: Networking

PRESENTERS:
Joanna Ehrenreich, Heads of Operations & Marketing, Toast Ale USA
Jo has spent her career at NYC startups, most recently as an early stage hire at Blue Apron. She helped run Blue Apron’s sustainability efforts as well as brand marketing, where she met Toast’s founder who served as a mentor on several food waste initiatives. She joined the Toast US team in 2018 as General Manager.

Matthew Holtzman, Founder, goMkt
goMkt was established in 2016 with a simple mission: reduce food waste, support small business and charitable giving, and bring people together to share delicious food. Matthew was the former founder of Yahoo-backed startup to ID hate speech and analyst at AppNexus.

Phil Wong, Co-Founder, Misfit Juicery
Phil co-founded Misfit with his best friend Ann 3 years ago in his college kitchen. Phil has spent time in Rwanda and Senegal, both of which were integral to Misft’s beginnings. Phil’s a Halcyon Fellow and graduated in 2015 from Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service with a BSFS in Science, Technology, and International Affairs. Phil and Ann were named to the 2018 list of Forbes 30 Under 30 (Social Entrepreneurs).

Amanda Weeks, Co-Founder & CEO, Industrial/Organic
Amanda co-founded I/O to rapidly recover water, energy and nutrients from food waste to produce high-value products such as organic fertilizers, animal feed and clean energy. The company aims to operate a distributed network of micro-facilities utilizes existing industrial spaces, providing a faster and cheaper alternative to other organic waste solutions, while contributing to the revitalization of post-industrial areas. It recently closed a $1.3m seed round to build out its first commercial facility in New Jersey, set to open this summer to serve the New York metro area.

HOST:

Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects. We are an independent, founder-controlled company of 132 people working together in an old pencil factory in New York City. Over 10 million people, from every continent on earth, have backed a Kickstarter project from films, games, and music to art, design, and technology. To date, tens of thousands of creative projects — big and small — have come to life with the support of the Kickstarter community.

SPONSOR:

Like our namesake borough, the Brooklyn Brewery is made up of a rich collection of characters from all over the world. In our Williamsburg home, these characters are dedicated to brewing and selling great beer and enriching the communities we serve. Together, these Brooklyners have assembled the skills needed to transform a home brewing hobby into an independent brewery with a brand that has become an international beacon for good beer.

The post Food Waste Innovation appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

It’s not easy being a food innovator. There’s no road map for reinventing an industry.

That’s why we’ve teamed up with ForceBrands: FoodForce | BevForce to celebrate failure in all its glory at Fail Friday (on a Wednesday). Join us to hear stories of failure and lessons learned from top food entrepreneurs.

We will also have food from emerging brands Seek Food, Lavva, HavenRow, PetPlate and drinks from Metabrew. And, as always, there will be lots of networking.

SCHEDULE:
7:00 – 7:45: Networking, Snacks & Drinks
7:45 – 8:45: Failure Stories & Q&A
8:45 – 9:30: More Networking

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS
Rita Hudetz, CEO, Hu Kitchen & Products
Rita M. Hudetz is a 2009 Yale FES/SOM Joint Degree Graduate. Rita was recently promoted to CEO of Hu Kitchen/Hu Products, a high quality/ultra unprocessed restaurant and CPG business located in NYC. She joined Hu Kitchen as Chief Commercial Officer of Hu Products in 2016, to drive expansion of their retail product line. Since 2016 she has expanded the products business nationally, launched an ecommerce platform, increased sales by 5x and introduced new products following Hu’s “no weird ingredients” mantra.

Camilla Marcus, Founder, west~bourne
west~bourne, is a healthy-minded café and takeaway shop in SoHo founded by Camilla  Marcus, an artist and cook at heart with a background in business development, law, and investing. Camilla has helped bring to life some of New York’s beloved neighborhood restaurants, including dell’anima, Riverpark, and the reopened Union Square Café.  Formerly the Director of Business Development for Union Square Hospitality Group, Camilla has also worked in real estate investing for Colony Capital and CIM Group. With west~bourne, she is now both the investor and the entrepreneur, committed to rethinking what it means to be a good neighbor through the lens of hospitality. a portion of every purchase made at west~bourne will benefit a neighboring non-profit, The Door, to fund hospitality job training for youth in our community, and we are hiring from that very program to build our team.

Renaldo Webb, Founder & CEO, PetPlate
Renaldo Webb is Founder and Chief Product Officer at PetPlate. Inspired by his dog Winston, Renaldo founded PetPlate after deciding that he did not want to feed his dog anything less than real food. After making hundreds of batches of home-cooked dog food for Winston and his pup pals, Renaldo decided to launch a pet food brand that he could proudly call his own. Prior to PetPlate, Renaldo worked at LCatterton and McKinsey & Company as a lean manufacturing consultant, where he led operational turnarounds for public and private companies. He launched PetPlate as a nationwide subscription service in early 2017, following an appearance on the hit TV show Shark Tank.

Ravi Jolly, Co-Founder & President, I Heart Keenwah
Ravi Jolly, founded I Heart Keenwah, a brand that makes delicious, nutritious, plant-based food products using top quality quinoa. In doing so, he has made a mark on the world by making organic and Fair Trade quinoa accessible, introducing many to a health-supporting protein source and sourcing quinoa in a way that is equitable to farmers.

PARTNERS:

Force Brands is a boutique recruiting and staffing agency that specializes in hiring strategies and organizational design for food and beverage companies. Force Brands includes two divisions, the newly introduced FoodForce, which focuses on hiring for the food industry and BevForce, which focuses on hiring for the beverage industry. FoodForce | BevForce is a comprehensive hiring and job search platform providing staffing resources, including: executive recruiting, interim placement, board of director assembly and targeted industry job boards.

Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects. We are an independent, founder-controlled company of 132 people working together in an old pencil factory in New York City. Over 10 million people, from every continent on earth, have backed a Kickstarter project from films, games, and music to art, design, and technology.

The Brooklyn Brewery is made up of a rich collection of characters from all over the world. In our Williamsburg home, these characters are dedicated to brewing and selling great beer and enriching the communities we serve. Together, these Brooklyners have assembled the skills needed to transform a home brewing hobby into an independent brewery with a brand that has become an international beacon for good beer.

The post Fail Friday (on a Wednesday): Food Startups Share Lessons Learned appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Ocean life is at risk of collapse, yet the demand for seafood is increasing. More than 90% of seafood in the US is being imported from overseas, and 30% is sourced through illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing operations. Now, companies are cropping up to build a more sustainable, traceable and profitable seafood supply chain. From live tracking technology to converting pollution into fish feed, join us to hear from innovators in the space at our April Food+Tech Meetup. Presenters will do a deep dive into their business strategies, technologies, challenges and lessons learned in the aquaculture and seafood space.

Come network with the community and get a taste from emerging F&B startups:AKUA, Ocean Hugger Foods, Australis Barramundi, Oko Farms, ForaFoods, New Wave Foods, Yolélé Foods, Edenworks and Sixty South Salmon!

RSVP here.

SCHEDULE:
6:30 – 7:15pm: Networking
7:30 – 9:00pm: Presentations + Q&A
9:00 – 9:30pm: Networking

PRESENTERS:
Trevor Swope, Director of Operations, Dock to Dish
Dock to Dish is a seafood cooperative that supplies fish directly from Montauk to restaurants in New York City and Long Island. In 2017, Trevor developed and implemented the first hybrid geospatial database system to feature live vessel and vehicle tracking integration at Dock to Dish. The system makes near-real time “end to end” monitoring of wild seafood supply chains available to the public.

David Tze, CEO, NovoNutrients
NovoNutrients’s disruptive technology platform profitably transforms carbon dioxide from industrial emissions into high margin products for voluminous aquaculture, nutrient, and other markets. In doing so, the company also addresses two global environmental challenges: climate change and depletion of fisheries. The total addressable market for NovoNutrients exceeds half a trillion dollars, including $100B in aquaculture feed, $350B in feed for agriculture and pets, as well as the growing, meat-free food ingredient space.

Sean Dimin, Co-Founder, Sea to Table
Sean Dimin is Founder & CEO of Sea to Table. Driven to fix the broken seafood supply chain, he founded the company in 2009 with his father Michael. As the preeminent better-for-you and better-for-the-planet seafood brand, Sea to Table delivers exclusively high quality traceable, wild-caught, and sustainable American seafood to restaurants, institutions, and home cooks across the United States.

Donna Lanzetta, Founder & CEO, Manna Fish Farms
Donna Lanzetta is an attorney and entrepreneur with a passion for sustainable seafood production. Motivated by a concern for our world’s growing population, our fixed/declining wild fish stocks, and the urgent need to feed our burgeoning numbers, Manna Fish Farms is awaiting permits to operate an open ocean fish farm, eight miles off the Eastern Coast of the United States.

John Ng, President, Hudson Valley Fish Farms
Hudson Valley Fish Farms is a land-based salmon/trout farm dedicated to producing the healthiest and most sustainable Steelhead Salmon available on the market today. Pairing artisanal craft with advanced Recirculating Aquaculture System technology, HVFF is breaking new ground on satisfying the demand for high quality, locally grown and environmentally conscious seafood.

PARTNERS:

Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects. We are an independent, founder-controlled company of 132 people working together in an old pencil factory in New York City. Over 10 million people, from every continent on earth, have backed a Kickstarter project from films, games, and music to art, design, and technology. To date, tens of thousands of creative projects — big and small — have come to life with the support of the Kickstarter community.

Like our namesake borough, the Brooklyn Brewery is made up of a rich collection of characters from all over the world. In our Williamsburg home, these characters are dedicated to brewing and selling great beer and enriching the communities we serve. Together, these Brooklyners have assembled the skills needed to transform a home brewing hobby into an independent brewery with a brand that has become an international beacon for good beer.

The post Future of Seafood appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

Agriculture is undergoing a digital revolution. The demand for information along the food supply chain is driving the evolution of digital-based solutions for growing food and increased agtech adoption. From precision farming to biotechnology, there is a growing crop of startups using data and technology to make food production more sustainable, efficient and profitable.

Join us to hear how food innovators are advancing the way we farm at our January Food+Tech Meetup in partnership with AgFunder. Presenters will do a deep dive into their business strategies, technologies, challenges and lessons learned.

Come network with the community and get a taste from emerging F&B startups: Dream Greens by Aerofarms x Saxon + Parole x Impossible Foods, Baking Supply Co, Bowery Farming, Gotham Greens x Kite Hill, Nomad Trading Co, Up Mountain Switchel, Lily Puffs and Ocean Hugger Foods.

SCHEDULE:
6:30 – 7:15pm: Networking
7:30 – 9:00pm: Presentations + Q&A
9:00 – 9:30pm: Networking

PRESENTERS:
Steve Sibulkin, Co-Founder & CEO, Agronomic Technology Corp (Adapt-N)
Steve Sibulkin is the co-founder and CEO of Agronomic Technology Corp, a data and software company that provides proprietary crop, soil, water and fertilizer modeling to help farmers achieve profitable sustainability. The company’s Adapt-N solution is used by leading food companies, agricultural retailers, agronomists and farm technology companies. In November 2017, Agronomic Technology Corp was acquired by Yara International. Steve has founded and lead several successful technology-driven ventures, including at Giving Zone, Mainspring, Ogilvy & Mather, and Sapient.  He has a B.A. from UCLA and an MBA from Kellogg at Northwestern.

Megan Nunes, Founder & CEO, Vinsight
Vinsight founder + CEO Megan Nunes, grew up in the farming business. After almost a decade-long career in the satellite industry, she turned her tech knowledge back home. Her San Francisco-based startup now offers forecasting software and data analytics to famers who are growing almost anything that’s not corn, wheat, or soy. Vinsight is an application that aggregates geospatial data, weather data and geographical information data to provide the grape and almond industries with analytics for what is happening in field. Their goal is to improve yield and revenue for growers while providing ultimate insight and transparency to all areas of the value chain.

Dr Deane Falcone, CTO & Senior VP of Plant Science, Freshbox Farms
We combine a farmer’s common sense with a strategic business vision, a commitment to innovation, and the latest in plant science technologies to grow healthier foods and harvest higher returns. As urban density increases around the world, locally sourced food is taking on greater importance. Crop One drastically reduces transportation carbon use due to our farms’ proximity to the point of consumption and nearly eliminates usage of other resources, particularly water. Our processes have a dramatically lower ecological footprint and our proprietary information management systems allow us to create superior plant quality with no pesticide/adverse chemical intervention. Instead, we use our digital and mechanical controls to influence plant behavior – growing fresher, tastier greens. As the most capital efficient vertical farmer in the world, we are also able to lead the vertical farming industry to serve volume market segments such as food service.

Reese Mozer, Co-Founder & CEO, American Robotics
Reese Mozer and his colleagues have been studying drones and their application in agriculture for almost a decade. The summary: The hype is fading, and drones don’t work yet for farmers. Limits on battery life and rural-area data transfer make current options time consuming, complicated, and entirely impractical. American Robotics has resolved these issues with ScoutTM: a fully-automated, self-charging drone system, capable of functioning independently for entire seasons. Once our DS1 Drone Stations are installed, a fleet of connected, weatherproof ScoutsTM function autonomously in the field, seamlessly delivering health reports regularly and reliably. By removing the need for human pilots and utilizing the computing power of these drone stations, we’ve created a solution that is 6-45x more cost effective than alternatives.

Federico A. Tripodi, CEO, Calyxt
Calyxt is combining its leading gene-editing technology and technical expertise with its innovative commercial strategy to deliver healthier specialty food ingredients and agriculturally advantageous traits. Our technology enables us to precisely and specifically edit a plant genome to elicit the desired traits and characteristics, resulting in a final product that has no foreign DNA. We believe the precision, specificity, cost effectiveness and speed of our gene-editing technologies will enable us to provide meaningful disruption to the food and agriculture industries. Federico A. Tripodi holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Washington University’s Olin Business School, as well as an agronomic engineering degree from Buenos Aires University. He has gathered extensive experience in agricultural R&D and product development during his nearly two-decade career in the ag biotech and seed industry.

PARTNER:

AgFunder is the online investment platform for AgriFood technologies. We help accredited, institutional, and corporate investors discover and invest in startups transforming the food & agriculture industry using proprietary research, big data, and machine learning. Our industry-leading market intelligence is supported by a database of over 11,000 companies and analysis from over 150+ machine learning algorithms to help to identify and assess the best investment opportunities from around the world for our managed funds and co-investment opportunities, as well as to provide support to our portfolio companies.

HOST:

Kickstarter is a funding platform for creative projects. We are an independent, founder-controlled company of 132 people working together in an old pencil factory in New York City. Over 10 million people, from every continent on earth, have backed a Kickstarter project from films, games, and music to art, design, and technology. To date, tens of thousands of creative projects — big and small — have come to life with the support of the Kickstarter community.

SPONSORS:

FoodBytes! by Rabobank is a next-generation pitch competition that brings together the game-changing startups, investors and industry leaders at the forefront of food and agriculture innovation. As a member of the FTC community, snag your tickets to FoodBytes! San Francisco on March 1 for 15% off with the code FBFAMILY here.

Like our namesake borough, the Brooklyn Brewery is made up of a rich collection of characters from all over the world. In our Williamsburg home, these characters are dedicated to brewing and selling great beer and enriching the communities we serve. Together, these Brooklyners have assembled the skills needed to transform a home brewing hobby into an independent brewery with a brand that has become an international beacon for good beer.

The post AgTech Meetup with AgFunder appeared first on Food+Tech Connect.

It’s not easy being a food innovator. There’s no road map for reinventing an industry.

That’s why we’ve teamed up with ForceBrands: FoodForce  | BevForce to celebrate failure in all its glory at Fail Friday (on a Thursday). Join us to hear stories of failure and lessons learned from top food entrepreneurs.

We will also have food from Cook Space Brooklyn, Zaro’s Bakery, Banza, Good Spread, Victory Garden and Mama O’s Premium Kimchi as well as festive drinks from Deep Eddy Vodka and Teavore. And, as always, there will be lots of networking.

SCHEDULE:
7:00 – 7:45: Networking, Snacks & Drinks
7:45 – 8:45: Failure Stories & Q&A
8:45 – 9:30: More Networking

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS

Brian Rudolph, co-founder & CEO, Banza

Brian is on a mission to make nutritious food more accessible. At the age of 23, Brian co-founded Banza along with his brother Scott. Banza makes comfort foods better by using more nutritious ingredients. Their first product is a high protein, lower carb pasta made from chickpeas. In the last two years, Banza’s pasta has entered over 4,500 retail stores, was named by TIME Magazine as one of the 25 Best Inventions of 2015, is the fastest growing brand of pasta in the country, and has been featured on The TODAY show, NYT Food, and CNBC’s Restaurant Startup. Recently, Banza was accepted into the inaugural Chobani Food Incubator. Mr. Rudolph is a member of the Forbes 30 under 30 and Inc 30 under 30 lists. Brian received his BBA from Emory University and is an alumnus of the Venture for America fellowship.

Danielle Gould, founder, Food+Tech Connect & co-founder, co-CEO, Alpha Food Labs
Danielle Gould is the founder of Food+Tech Connect, the site of record and world’s largest community for food tech and innovation, and co-founder and co-CEO of Alpha Food Labs, a food innovation lab. Since 2010, Danielle has been the leading voice for leveraging new technology, investment and business models to create a better food future. She is also a founding member of the Culinary Institute of America’s Business Leadership Council and a member of the Google Food Innovation Lab. Danielle was named one of Fast Company’s ‘Most Creative People in Business’ and one of Fortune and Food & Wine Magazines ‘Most Innovative Women in Food.’

Michael Zaro, COO, Zaro’s Family Bakery
Michael is the COO at Zaros Family Bakery, a fourth generation bakery established in 1927. Michael began his career in the family business at an early age—making bakery boxes at Zaro’s Parkchester location in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Prior to joining the bakery business, Michael worked as a television and music video producer. Michael reunited with his family once again in 2010, starting out as a line worker in the retail stores and retail bakery. Once he became familiar with all aspects of the bakery, Michael became a production manager. After successfully running several departments in the bakery Michael became the plant manager and several years later the COO.

Gregory Zamfotis, founder & CEO, Gregorys Coffee
Gregory was raised in the F&B industry, from shaving carrots and making deliveries, to eventually helping manage some of his father’s many businesses. The invaluable lessons Greg learned while watching his father run his businesses became the pillars upon which Gregorys Coffee was built. After studying finance, operations management, philosophy and law, Greg returned back to his roots and established a coffee company with his father. Gregorys Coffee opened for business in 2006 with one goal in mind: to provide you with the perfect cup of coffee. We wanted to open a specialty coffee company in the heart of New York City, focusing on the three things Greg’s father taught him were essential to succeeding in the industry: friendly service, speed and a superior quality product. The results were amazing, and it didn’t take long for the father & son team to open more locations. Gregorys now operates thirty stores across three states and remains hellbent on improving in all areas: from roasting our own beans and baking our own pastries to ensure superior quality, to our intensive barista training program to guarantee welcoming and efficient service.

PARTNER:

ForceBrands is the leading recruiting and firm for the food, beverage, and beauty and personal care industries. ForceBrands offers executive recruiting services, board of director assembly, and industry-specific job boards FoodForce | BevForce | BeautyForce. Whether you are working with the team of client strategists and executive recruiters for board of director and senior level roles or connecting directly to junior to mid-level talent through the industry-specific job boards, ForceBrands strives to transform the way consumer product industry professionals identify employment opportunities and employers are connected to future leaders.

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FoodBytes! by Rabobank is a next-generation pitch competition that brings together game-changing startups, investors and industry leaders. FoodBytes! discovers the most ground-breaking startups and provides a safe haven for entrepreneurs to receive the mentorship, connections and capital they need to grow their businesses. Alumni include Back to the Roots, MycoTechnology, Love the Wild, Imperfect, Burlap & Barrel and Seal the Seasons.

Like our namesake borough, the Brooklyn Brewery is made up of a rich collection of characters from all over the world. In our Williamsburg home, these characters are dedicated to brewing and selling great beer and enriching the communities we serve. Together, these Brooklyners have assembled the skills needed to transform a home brewing hobby into an independent brewery with a brand that has become an international beacon for good beer.

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