Food-Tech Start-Ups Take Note: Applications Open for Innovative Companies to Participate in USA Pavilion Business Accelerator Program at 2015 World's Fair

WASHINGTON, March 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The USA Pavilion at Expo Milano 2015 is calling for entrepreneurs to apply for a chance to change the world of food with Feeding the Accelerator during the next world's fair in Milan, Italy. On March 28, the online application process will open during a pitch competition at Seeds&Chips, an event in Milan bringing together enthusiastic innovators, companies and investors who are eager to revolutionize the way food is produced, distributed, consumed and depicted. The winning team from this preliminary competition will automatically enter the Accelerator review process and be one step closer to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compete and collaborate in the largest gathering of food system experts and investors in history who will incubate pioneering solutions to global food challenges.

"As an entrepreneur who has spent the last several decades in Silicon Valley, I understand how critical innovation and technology are when it comes to meeting the challenge of feeding more than nine billion by 2050," said Doug Hickey, USA Pavilion Commissioner General. "Our Accelerator program will play an essential role in uncovering the ideas and people needed to tackle this global food issue."

Feeding the Accelerator is a USA Pavilion program giving the world an opportunity to see American collaboration at work, as leaders in industry look to support the most innovative food and tech entrepreneurs. The Accelerator program will feature a series of workshops, seminars, lectures and discussions with guest lecturers and mentors from across the entire food system spectrum. Additionally, hackathons will be held during which competing teams will race to create innovative, network-based solutions to specific food and technology problems. The Accelerator will help eight to twelve upcoming food-tech stars reach their full potential through a curated program by the innovation and development company AtelierSlice and supported by Microsoft Corporation. Copernico, a cutting-edge Silicon Valley-inspired technology innovative hub, is also a partner serving as host of the workspace in Milan.

"We are proud to contribute to this project with the USA Pavilion by offering our technological know-how and our organizational expertise to develop a winning initiative able to boost the creativity of young people and entrepreneurs. We believe that innovation is a must-have lever to allow the food industry to grow and successfully cope with the current food challenges. That's why we're committed to coach these teams and to empower them with new technologies able to turn their ideas into reality," noted Fabio Santini, Developer Experience and Evangelism at Microsoft Italy.

The ideal Accelerator applicant is a highly capable team working with a groundbreaking concept or assets at the intersection of food and technology. The selection committee will look for a significant X-factor and existing traction. In line with the theme of Expo Milano 2015, "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life," teams should have the potential for rapid impact on a global scale. The Accelerator will run a virtual bootstrapping program for the selected teams July through August and a physical accelerator during September in Milan. Participants will bear the cost of their travel, but the program is free for selected teams and the Accelerator will take no equity. Think your team has what it takes to join Feeding the Accelerator? Click here to apply!

About Friends of the USA Pavilion Milano 2015
The U.S. Department of State has selected the Friends of the USA Pavilion Milano 2015 as its private sector partner to work with the U.S. government to develop and implement an official American presence at the Expo. Friends of the USA Pavilion Milano 2015, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, is a collaboration between the James Beard Foundation (JBF) and the International Culinary Center (ICC), in association with the American Chamber of Commerce in Italy, whose mission is to conceive, design, fundraise for, and produce the USA Pavilion and programs at Expo Milano 2015.

Current partners include GE, NUSSLI, Uvet, Brand USA, PepsiCo, Microsoft, DuPont, Boeing, illy, Research Frontiers, 3M, Dow, Uber, McKinsey & Company, FleishmanHillard, Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute, U.S. Sustainability Alliance, U.S. Soybean Export Council, U.S. Grains Council, American Hardwood Export Council, North American Export Grain Association, USA Rice Federation, USA Poultry & Egg Commission, Food Export USA-Northeast, Food Export Association of the Midwest USA, and U.S. Dairy Export Council.

Through the leadership of Commissioner General Doug Hickey and the overall direction of the U.S. Department of State, the Friends organization will oversee every aspect of the project in consultation with a team of experts across the science, business, technology, agriculture, sustainability, design and other fields. The pavilion's management and program is directed by President Dorothy Hamilton (founder and CEO of ICC), Chief Executive Officer Charlie Faas, and Chief Creative Officer Mitchell Davis (EVP of JBF). Biber Architects has been selected to design the USA Pavilion, and Thinc Design is serving as USA Pavilion exhibition designer.

For more information, visit: www.usapavilion2015.net and www.expo2015.org/en.

SOURCE Friends of the USA Pavilion Milano 2015