Chipotle announced the launch of the Chipotle Aluminaries Project, an accelerator program sponsored by the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation to foster growth stage companies in the food and agtech space.
The seven-month long program is being partnered by Uncharted, a Denver based non-profit that will host and run the accelerator, and will focus on startups (both for, and non-profit) that are developing alternative farming systems, or are innovators in the agtech, food, and waste recovery, or plant-based and alternative product categories.
“By sponsoring the Chipotle Aluminaries Project, we’re looking to advance the work of the next generation of entrepreneurs who are disrupting the food landscape,” said Brian Niccol, CEO of Chipotle.
Beginning September 12, all food and agtech innovators “with a shared vision to cultivate a better world” are invited to submit an application to joint an eight-space cohort. The program will kick-off with a five-day, in-person boot camp in Newport Beach, California, with the goal of formulating a plan for scale, and as the program continues, each chosen participant will receive mentorship and will benefit from the direct coaching and expertise from experts including celebrity chef Richard Blais and Chipotle Board member Kimbal Musk.
Kimbal Musk is himself no stranger to food tech acceleration. In August of last year, Square Roots, an innovative indoor, urban farming incubator launched the previous year by Musk and his business partner Tobias Peggs, raised a Seed Round of $5.4 million led by New York-based Collaborative Fund.
Upon the incubator’s official launch in 2016, Musk said in a statement, “Our goal [with Square Roots] is to enable a whole new generation of real food entrepreneurs, ready to build thriving, responsible businesses. The opportunities in front of them will be endless.”
Additional mentors who will be working closely with Aluminaries’ participants include Curt Garner, Chipotle chief digital and information officer; Caitlin Leibert, Chipotle director of sustainability; Laurie Schalow, Chipotle chief communications officer; Tressie Lieberman, Chipotle vice president of digital marketing and off premise.
“The Chipotle Aluminaries Project is part of a fresh perspective from the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation, which we founded in 2011 to extend our commitment to creating a more sustainable food future,” said Leibert.
Chipotle is the latest of large, established names to jump on the accelerator train. In many cases an accelerator is an opportune channel through which to diversify a stagnant business, and to secure a foothold in the fast-paced, food tech developments that are rapidly changing the agriculture and food supply and CPG landscapes. However, in Chipotle’s case, there is widespread speculation if this move is in part a response to the company’s struggles in recent years with food safety issues (the latest that happened as recently as this month) that have forced the company to close locations and sent its stock plummeting.
-Lynda Kiernan