This EDA investment funds the future food accelerator project, to fund a virtual accelerator that would link leading edge R & D facilities, university technology innovation programs,…

The Battle Creek Unlimited Inc. was awarded a $1.58 million project grant from the Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration under the BUILD TO SCALE federal grant program to fund the Future Food Accelerator. The Future Food Accelerator will provide a virtual accelerator linking R&D facilities, university programs, entrepreneurship support, industry experts, and domain knowledge experts to support high-growth, high-potential food and beverage companies located in or relocating to Southcentral Michigan. A team of technical assistance providers will offer assessment tools, workshops, and webinars to participants. Battle Creek Unlimited will utilize stage-gate models of new product development and provide innovation management tools to inform investment decisions as companies progress and seek additional funding. The goals are to generate $3.5 million in aggregate funding for a minimum of 15 companies over three years, achieve various commercial and product development milestones for participants, assist in creating five new products/services, and help generate approximately 150 new knowledge economy jobs for the region.

This EDA investment funds the future food accelerator project, to fund a virtual accelerator that would link leading edge R & D facilities, university technology innovation programs, entrepreneurship support programs, industry/market experts, and domain experts to support high-growth, high-potential food and beverage companies located in or relocating to southcentral michigan. The future food accelerator is designed to serve as an efficient conduit for the development, acceleration, transfer, and transition of technology in the food innovation ecosystem. A team of qualified technical assistant providers will provide assessment tools and deliver workshops and webinars. In addition, battle creek unlimited will utilize stage-gate models of new product development and provide innovation management tools, thereby informing investment decisions as companies progress and seek additional funding. Once completed, the battle creek unlimited intends to: generate at least $3.5M in aggregate funding for a minimum of 15 companies over three years; achieve ten commercial development milestones for program participants; achieve ten product development milestones for program participants; assist in the creation of 5 new products and services for program participants; assist in the creation of 150 knowledge economy jobs for the region.