By Adrienne Smith

New York City is home to hundreds of start ups from all walks of life. But how can a killer entrepreneurial idea get the support and resources to stand out?

Food-X has carved a niche into NYC’s food start up business. The NYC-based food business accelerator helps entrepreneurs with the skills and funding needed to create lasting change in our food supply. And the program has opened its doors for Spring 2015 applicants.

Food-X is looking for 10-12 food start ups to participate in its second accelerator round. Its first round successfully ended in December 2014, with our Nextdoorganics team as one of Food-X’s first graduates!

“We met the Founder, Shen Tong, and Program Directer, Chris Stuart, at a Food+Tech Connect Hackathon last summer,” said our Nextdoorganics co-Founder Josh Cook. “They were looking for mission-driven companies to help define Food-X’s first group of international food companies working to transform the food system.”

“If your concept is scalable, disruptive to the industrial food system, and is serving your community, employees, customers, vendors, and the earth, then Food-X will accelerate your growth as a company, concept, and team.”

Founded in 2014 by social activist Shen Tong (he played a strong part in the student-led uprising in Tiananmen Square), Food-X equips food start ups with resources galore over its 14-week program. Each start up involved receives funding, workspaces, daily coaching and expert-led sessions - all invaluable in helping a start up scale.

Nextdoorganics’ mission is to provide value and stability within the local food system while also educating members on the new, seasonal foods coming from that system. While that mission has grown significantly in the past few years, Food-X set the stage for the next round of growth.

“We have run Nextdoorganics from a farmer’s market stand, from the trunk of my Mercury Sable, from a shipping container in a parking lot market in Downtown Brooklyn, from the back of a neighborhood cafe that then burned down, and now, happily, from our Brooklyn Hub which meets all of our receiving, storage, processing, packing and distribution needs,” said Cook. “We had learned a lot about how to execute well, but in order to go to the next level, we needed to prepare our ourselves for rapid growth and connect to the mentors in the food and business worlds that could help us for an eventual national expansion.”

Food-X mentors include Dan Barber of Blue Hill, Adam Eskin of Dig Inn, Chef Dorothy Hamilton of the International Culinary Institute and more! The program also connects involved start ups with investors and potential partners for continued success post-program.

“The mentor community was and will remain a great resource for us going forward,” said Cook. “Being able to email people who might have had similar experiences or who might have helpful connections for start-ups is invaluable.”

Nextdoorganics graduated with these other top-notch food start ups: Agrilicious, FoodieForAll, GreenBlender, Greenease, Local Food Lab, Munchquick, Servy, Sian’s Plan and Training Meals.

Food-X is accepting applications through February 28, 2015. Apply here.

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