5 Food-Tech Startups Selected for Savour Ventures’ Third Accelerator Programme

Kuwait’s Savour Ventures has selected five startups to participate in their intensive 10-week accelerator programme for food value chain startups across the Middle East and North Africa. Savour will host all five startups in their hub based in Kuwait for an intensive 12-module curriculum, powered by Creative Startups. 

Savour received over 300 applications from across the MENA region, along with some applicants from the United States, Europe & Africa. Once the application closed, startups were then shortlisted through several rounds of discussion. The final five, were chosen by the Savour’s team along with an expert panel of judges.

Startups will receive $100,000 investment, $50,000 of that is in cash, upon acceptance into the programme. Top performing startups will have the opportunity for following on funding from Savour based on performance.

“After graduating two cohorts and receiving insightful feedback, Savour is excited to be back this year with another batch of unique startups ready to accelerate their growth!” says Amira AlZayed, Savour programme manager. “Our cohort represents key areas across the food value chain, including: Agriculture, Distribution, Consumer Packaged Goods, & Food Technology”, she adds.

For this year’s cohort, Savour has created a new feature during the program called “Investor Mock Meetings”, allowing the founders to experience what it’s like to sit down with an investor and discuss as well as pitch in order to raise money for their startup. The sessions will be treated as a real scenario as if real interest for investment is there.

The final week of the accelerator programme will conclude with a ‘Deep Dive’ week, where Savour hosts a large-scale ‘Mentor Day & Demo Day’. Demo Day, is designed to bring together key players in the regional startup ecosystem along with food-enthusiasts across the Middle East to network with the startup founders for media exposure, partnership opportunities, investment & more. This event is open to the public on December 10, 2019, and will be held at Niu Business District One.

The startups selected for the 2019 cohort are:

1. Sprouting Journey: A Bahraini platform that provides wholesome and nutritious meals made using the best of what mother nature has to offer. Sprouting Journey is the first fully-licenced company selling food for children 6 months & above in Bahrain.
2. THAWAAQ: A Kuwaiti B-to-B food and beverage (F&B) marketplace that connects food suppliers with restaurants and cafes to make food and beverage shopping, and ordering prices more convenient.
3. Cup: An Egyptian startup that collects and adds value to the spent coffee grounds as a way to grow mushrooms, one of the first in the region.
4. Blink Ultimate Delivery: A Jordanian on-demand delivery company that delivers goods by connecting businesses with nearby freelance drivers by using advanced technologies.
5. Sprout: A UAE-based startup that caters plant-based healthy food for children. The food is 100% based on the latest nutrition science and established in collaborative with medical professionals to seek what’s appropriate for the various stages of child growth.

Startup founders will receive hands-on mentorship through Savours lead educator Dr. Lena Ramfelt, Creative Startups lead faculty, who taught entrepreneurship for 12 years at Stanford University, School of Engineering.

 “We’ve enhanced this year’s program to focus on key learning outcomes such as successful fundraising, and customer traction. This cohort will be more extensive than ever, offering new curriculum content, new mentors, along with the opportunity to engage regularly with experienced investors,” says Amira.

The partnership Savour has with Creative Startups is vital to the success of the programme. The Creative Startups curriculum serves as a culmination of Savour’s longstanding commitment to ensuring innovation and excellence across the food value chain.