SEASONED ACCELERATOR
WE’RE SETTING THE TABLE TO SUPPORT SMALL FOOD AND BEVERAGE BUSINESSES
Established in 2020 and funded by a Community Development Block Grant from the City of Los Angeles Economic and Workforce Development Department (EWDD), the Seasoned Accelerator supports micro and small food businesses. It is unique among local accelerator programs for its focus on food and beverage entrepreneurs and has served 44 businesses since the program’s founding.
Food Access LA’s objective for the Seasoned Accelerator is to create a healthy local food economy and assist and grow food businesses.
Each year, a cohort of 10 entrepreneurs receives:
1:1 Business operations coaching from an experienced Food and Beverage Entrepreneur/Consultant.
1:1 Marketing Advising sessions with Food & Beverage Marketing expert.
Educational Webinars on the food industry and business development led by industry professionals.
Linkage to resources and opportunities, including grants, Small Business Development Center (SBDC), and small business loans.
Professional photographs of you and your work.
Our coaches and webinar instructors, with deep knowledge and first-hand experience in food and beverage, teach and coach on Growth Strategy, Business Planning, Operations Refinement, Financials, and more.
Space is Limited and Excitement is Brewing…
The Seasoned Accelerator has a limited number of spaces available for Los Angeles-based food and beverage entrepreneurs. If you’d like to join, please click the button below to sign up for our waitlist.
GET A TASTE OF OUR 2023 SEASONED WEBINARS!
NEWLY LAUNCHED: SEASONED BOOTCAMP
The Seasoned Bootcamp provides support to first-time food and beverage entrepreneurs. With funding from LISC LA in 2021, we partnered with Occidental College’s Urban and Environmental Institute to learn about the experiences and needs of local food and beverage entrepreneurs. We learned that access to mentorship and financial resources are among the challenges faced by these entrepreneurs, with gaps being more significant for those that identify as female and/or BIPOC.
This has informed our approach both for the Accelerator, and the more recent Seasoned Bootcamp program.
We successfully piloted the Seasoned Bootcamp in 2023 with support from Wells Fargo. The pilot was targeted specifically to BIPOC women who plan to launch their first food or beverage businesses or who were in the early stages of operations, for less than 6 months. The twelve-week program provided access to information and resources necessary to build a solid foundation to operate in the food industry.
While in the program, participants received:
Webinars on the food industry and business development, particularly startup topics.
Independent study to enhance learning.
Group coaching sessions conducted by experienced food and beverage professionals.
Linkage to entrepreneurship resources and opportunities.
The sequence of the Bootcamp webinars was designed in collaboration with Corissa Hernandez with the intention of allowing participants to build on the knowledge acquired from each consecutive course.
We are currently working on building the Seasoned Bootcamp into our annual program offerings. We encourage first-time women food and beverage entrepreneurs who are ready to bring their vision to life to sign up for our waitlist.
MEET OUR ENTREPRENEURS
VOLUNTEERS AND MENTORS WELCOME!
We invite professionals with extensive experience in the food and beverage industries to assist in making this program a part of our annual offerings and support our entrepreneurs. If you are interested in funding, providing instruction, individualized coaching, or other resources, get in touch by emailing us through the button below.