Industry Trend 2014: The FoodTech Revolution
From EdTech to FinTech (think Bitcoin)... now comes FoodTech. Recently, I've blogged about start-ups here and here that are revolutionizing how we eat and experience food.
In conjunction with the Good Food Awards 2014 (recap of 2013 here), I was able to attend a panel session with food and technology entrepreneurs/investors, including the CEO/Co-founder of Good Eggs, Rob Spiro, and Founder of Code.org and sustainable food investor, Ali Partovi. A jam maker from the panel started sharing her challenges of being a small business owner, specifically in renting a kitchen (if you are looking for one in San Francisco, ask me) and raising capital. In the past year alone, we've seen an onslaught of food businesses raising funds by pre-selling products/services through crowdfunding sites, such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Other panelists commented that this is a good way to also broaden the market and justify that there is interest in the business, especially for further investment rounds. Notably, I was intrigued with an alternative way of finding capital through Direct Public Offering aka investment crowdfunding.
On a different event, the concept of merging food and technology was apparent for upcoming start-up, Tellspec, which offers a flatter computer mouse-like device bringing together laser spectroscopy technology and a mathematical algorithm to tell you what is in your food via an app. Just imagine the possibilities for this kind of Internet of Things, in this case, for anyone with food-related concerns, such as diabetes, obesity, allergies, etc. to be able to decipher every single ingredient in the food. Another example to a lesser degree is smart-chip enabled egg tray, Egg Minder. Interesting, but I've never had problems with tracking when my eggs will go bad, have you?
Whatever it may be, get ready for the FoodTech revolution coming right at you. The cronuts food trend is now a thing of the past.
Disclaimer: I am neither a buyer nor investor of any products/companies mentioned in this post.
In conjunction with the Good Food Awards 2014 (recap of 2013 here), I was able to attend a panel session with food and technology entrepreneurs/investors, including the CEO/Co-founder of Good Eggs, Rob Spiro, and Founder of Code.org and sustainable food investor, Ali Partovi. A jam maker from the panel started sharing her challenges of being a small business owner, specifically in renting a kitchen (if you are looking for one in San Francisco, ask me) and raising capital. In the past year alone, we've seen an onslaught of food businesses raising funds by pre-selling products/services through crowdfunding sites, such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo. Other panelists commented that this is a good way to also broaden the market and justify that there is interest in the business, especially for further investment rounds. Notably, I was intrigued with an alternative way of finding capital through Direct Public Offering aka investment crowdfunding.
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| @ The Food-Tech Dilemma: What Dot-Coms can Learn from Jam Makers |
On a different event, the concept of merging food and technology was apparent for upcoming start-up, Tellspec, which offers a flatter computer mouse-like device bringing together laser spectroscopy technology and a mathematical algorithm to tell you what is in your food via an app. Just imagine the possibilities for this kind of Internet of Things, in this case, for anyone with food-related concerns, such as diabetes, obesity, allergies, etc. to be able to decipher every single ingredient in the food. Another example to a lesser degree is smart-chip enabled egg tray, Egg Minder. Interesting, but I've never had problems with tracking when my eggs will go bad, have you?
Whatever it may be, get ready for the FoodTech revolution coming right at you. The cronuts food trend is now a thing of the past.
Disclaimer: I am neither a buyer nor investor of any products/companies mentioned in this post.
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