We have greatly enjoyed getting to know several talented entrepreneurs, and have selected the following incredible food and beverage businesses for the 20th Accelerator Cohort! The cohort is hard at work mastering concept, technical execution, and preparing for a successful launch. We are excited to introduce the member brands as we begin our partnership in supporting their success.
Aji Tea
With tea time being an important part of Indonesian society, Aji was inspired to create a delicious tea beverage from a long-time family recipe that combines real green jasmine green tea leaves with local honey. Aji is passionate about this tea because of the health benefits like immunity, energy, and cognitive function, while still tasting great.
Annie and Elliott Carter created BlackNerd Coffee with the mission to foster a community of both coffee lovers and coffee nerds. They want to help provide the opportunity to drink great coffee right at home, without the need to go to a fancy cafe. The coffees are small-batch roasted and single origin with profiles developed in-house.
Ana owns and operates three cafes serving delicious and healthy food. She began this after a 20 year international career in finance. A popular aspect of her cafes were specifically the Bliss Balls, which are a blend of simple and whole ingredients like nuts, grains, and dates. Ana is passionate about providing cleaner food options that support mindful eating habits, and taking this tasty CPG product to the retail market.
Humble Kind Wise
Zena and Charles took to supplementing their nutrition intake during the pandemic by consuming sea moss. Sea moss’s benefits of numerous minerals, improved digestion, and increased energy levels inspired them to share these benefits with the world to improve the health of everyone. They hope to bring their strong values alive through their products of ready-made sea moss gels. With multiple flavors anyone can find a fit to access the goodness of nature.
Izzy Bites
Tucker is the founder of Duncan Dog Hotel in DC. He soon noticed how most dog treats on the market are not fresh, contain questionable ingredients, and are hard in form, which can be difficult for smaller or older dogs. Tucker decided to tackle this problem by creating Izzy Bites, a fresh-baked and healthy dog treat that owners can feel good about giving to their pets.
JB’s Organic Foods
Jeremiah came to the Accelerator with the goal of making nutritious, organic, but most importantly healthy foods. JB’s wants to treat customers like family, encouraging large family-like gatherings for all their consumers. Initially, JB’s is going to be focused on launching delicious rice dishes, with regional flavor profiles.
The Linda Grams team, comprised of Linda, Maya, and Ray, is based in Richmond, VA, and they make gourmet graham crackers. Their small batches are made with lots of love and pair well with coffee, cheese plates, s’mores, and more. They pride themselves on making ordinary ingredients into an extraordinary snack. The Linda Grams are perfect for the classic foodie, always exploring new and unique snacks to indulge on.
That Gut Drink
Kylie is a registered dietician and the founder of Strata Nutrition, a nutrition support service specializing in helping those with gut disorders and autoimmune diseases. Because of her experience in this profession, she was inspired to create That Gut Drink, which combines five different aspects of gut health into one delicious drink. Rather than the consumer having to go purchase multiple different products to get these aspects, they will be able to get all of these wrapped up in That Gut Drink.
Soul of Sonoma
Patrice started Soul of Sonoma to create inspired pairings with good wines. With thoughtfully crafted tastes, their food will elevate the art of wine enjoyment. Planning elevated dishes and accompaniments can be time consuming and difficult, and Soul of Sonoma is able to solve this pain, providing consumers with this great experience with less hassle. From spreads and pesto, to baba ganoush and mousse, you can pair amazing flavors of food with the amazing flavors of wine.
Be on the lookout for these amazing products hitting shelves in the coming months!