Change Food Meets: Brooklyn
“Alternative Investment Vehicles for Good Food & Agriculture”
WHEN: June 13, 2018
TIME: 6:30-8:30pm
WHERE: Agritecture, 40 Bushwick Ave
TICKETS: http://bit.ly/CFMeetsNYC
Creating positive change in today’s food & agriculture system is challenging. But AgTech X is seeing a wave of newcomers eager to flip the food economy’s status quo as an extractive and environmentally-degrading system. And nonprofit Change Food is seeing the lines blur between social good companies and nonprofit organizations.
Over the last year, AgTech X has hosted 300+ students in over 40 classes, ranging from how to start an urban farming business; to closed-loop farming systems like aquaponics; to cloud-connected smart gardens. Over 20 coworking members have worked on projects and startups including an online marketplace for ugly and surplus produce; a smart hardware solution for indoor farms; and a collaborative art exhibit focused on rewilding New York City.
Now, AgTech X is looking to make it easier for our growing community of impact-driven innovators to find access to capital. This process starts with understanding one’s options…
- “Is my organization better suited as a non-profit, for-profit, or benefit corp?
- “How do I know if it’s worth applying for grants?”
- “What are the downsides to raising a crowdfunding campaign?”
- “I’m looking for investors who care about more than just bottom-line.”
…These are all variations of questions and statements we hear from members of our community. Change Food Meets: Brooklyn is meant to help us begin to answer them.
At Change Food, founder Diane Hatz has begun noticing a growing discussion around the distinction between for-profit and nonprofits and which might be better for Good Food, especially with growing frustration from smaller nonprofits regarding grants and foundations. A goal of the event is to connect our two networks to build stronger cohesiveness between the nonprofit and for-profit worlds within Good Food & Agriculture.
Some of the specific pathways for funding we’d like to discuss and hear examples of:
- Government Grants
- Non-Extractive Loans
- Prize Competitions
- Crowdfunding
- Equity Crowdfunding
- “Symbiotic” VC Portfolios
- Democratized Community Investments
- Impact Investment Due Diligence Platforms
- Non-Dilutive Accelerators & Incubators
>> Event Details & Speaker Applications <<
Change Food aggregates the best of the best already working toward healthy food change, amplifies their voices through our events and programs, and advance their work and the goal of the food movement – to provide healthy, safe, delicious, fair food for ALL. To learn more, visit ChangeFood.org. Follow and support us on Patreon.