Supports food-focused entrepreneurs through the process of building an investible business model which includes a financing strategy unique to your business, to grow and scale.
This national program serves Food, Beverage, Technologies, Value-Added Agriculture, and Processing businesses.
What is the FFI Fellows Program?
In the FFI Fellows Program, you will work with a coach and peers in similar situations as yourself in what we call, cohorts. This program is FREE and open to any food-focused entrepreneur in the United States.
Each cohort cycle lasts 6 months, kicking off with FFI’s foundational focused Financial Management Boot Camp and ending with your investor pitch. During the program, your learning will be provided through regular virtual meetings with your cohort and 1-on-1 with your coach, on all key areas of your business:
- Sales
- Operations
- Accounting
- Finance
- Food Safety
- Marketing & Branding
The FFI Fellows Program is based on the FaBcap Accelerator Program which transitioned to FFI in 2020 and is now the FFI Fellows Program. The 50 Wisconsin-based food and beverage product, ingredient, and technology companies that went through the original Accelerator Program have attracted $864,250 in grant funding, $7,579,781 in debt funding, and $9,935,024 in equity funding, with their annual sales totaling $36,772,563.
Program Overview
All Fellows receive free:
- 1-on-1 Coaching
- Full access to Edible Alpha Learning Center offerings, including:
- Deep Dive (on-demand) courses
- Immersion Trainings (ex: Financial Management Boot Camp, Building a Brand that Stands Out, Raising Equity, Scenario Planning)
- Expert Industry Connections and Introductions
- Bi-monthly Fellows Only Cohort Meetings with Training on:
- Accounting, Sales Management, eCommerce, Branding & Marketing
- Operations Development, Process & Supply Chain Optimization
- Food Safety, Quality & GFSI, Legal/Risk Management
- Financial Planning, Raising Equity, Sources & Uses of Capital
- Investor Pitch Presentations
- Fellows Alumni meetings: Including new Fellows in and outside of WI
- FFI Broader Network access: investors, UW and UW-System IBE
- Exclusive access to FFI Partners Products & Services
Participant Commitment
– Owner participation in the FFI Fellows Program commitment schedule (see button below)
– Reporting to the Food Finance Institute with your revenue, sales, and employment count for three years
– On-going participation in FFI Fellows Program-related activity as requested and available
Program Eligibility
– Must have demonstrated success in sales with a growth focus
– Must have an actual website beyond a Facebook page
– Must be operating in the food space, read about our cohort groups here
– Apply to the cohort that feels best to you, if accepted, we will ensure you’re placed into the correct cohort
– Business in the United States
Selection Criteria
Applicants will be scored by an esteemed group of industry judges that will rank each business/product based on:
– Product or service scalability and extendibility
– Product and brand differentiation
– General business awareness, focus, and acumen of ownership
– Other cohort consideration
Apply for the Fellows Program
Applications for the 2023 Fellows cohorts are closed. To get notified when other Fellows cohort applications are open, get on our interest list.
Not sure which cohort you fit into?
Have questions? Want to get on the Fellows interest list?
Interested in applying for the Fellows Program, but the application period is closed? Complete our contact form below to add your business to our Fellows interest list! You’ll be notified once an application period opens. Additionally, you can use this form to address any questions you have about the Fellows Program, your business, or other programs the Food Finance Institute offers.
The Fellows program is funded in part through a cooperative agreement with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.
The Fellows Program is also supported by our Sponsors, learn more about them here!
Reasonable accommodations for persons with disabilities will be made if requested at least two weeks in advance. Email us or call 608-263-7794.