Good news for food entrepreneurs who have amazing ideas for innovation but not the funding or sales-savvy to make them happen. Crowdfooding – a platform that connects food entrepreneurs with investors – is aiming to be the one-stop shop for food and drink entrepreneurs, through providing an investment matchmaking service that helps startups to raise the capital they need to develop their businesses or a Food Crowdfunding platform on which they can sell their product.
Crowdfooding, itself a startup, is still at an early stage of development, having recently completed its first £10k funding project with Chocothon, an initiative that aims to create a shared value platform for a more sustainable Ghanaian cocoa supply chain. It has a mission of “bringing together food entrepreneurs, passionate foodies and established food organizations to create meaningful relationships and foster food innovation.” The recipe? Offering both crowdfunding and mentoring for startups, a platform for sales, startups scouting, and facilitating open innovation for corporates.
What if You’re Not Investment Ready?
“We started the platform with the idea that raising capital was the biggest struggle for food startups, and that connecting them with the relevant investors through equity crowdfunding was the best approach,” said Alessio D’Antino, CEO, and Co-founder of Crowdfooding. “We quickly learned that most entrepreneurs who have approached us were simply not ready for equity crowdfunding. Either they were struggling getting their first sales in, were often tied to one distributor without any perspective to scale, had very little following and engagement on social media, or just didn’t know how to handle their marketing. In other words, we realized a good chunk of them were not investment ready.”
“That’s why we decided to also introduce reward crowdfunding as a way for startups to validate the market, build a community of early adopters and wrap their head around their marketing strategy and messaging,” he continued. “We certainly acknowledge that crowdfunding isn’t just a way to raise funds, it’s a real marketing exercise that requires strategic thinking, creativity, time and full dedication. Startups are not only creating a much more engaging relationship with new customers and building up their brand identity but most and foremost, gaining more credibility towards future potential investors.”
As a result, since February 2017, startups have been allowed to simply sell products on the platform, through…