An exciting event is coming to the dairy sector for its sixth year! The California Milk Advisory Board’s (CMAB) Real California Milk Excelerator competition is placing an emphasis on Health & Wellness startups. The competition, in partnership with innovation advisory VentureFuel, features an immersive mentorship program and access to non-dilutive capital and an innovation ecosystem for brand growth. The 2024 program also will feature a new Future of Dairy Expo event.
“Innovation is the lifeblood for all industries. Our investment in the Excelerator and the California Dairy Innovation Center continues to introduce new products and innovators/founders into the pipeline and relationship with Real California Milk,” said John Talbot, Chief Executive Officer. “With an overall market value of more than $5 trillion, the health and wellness focus make sense and allows us to hone in on startups that are leveraging the natural goodness of milk and its myriad benefits. Wellness for consumers is an everyday pursuit—whether physical or mental—and real dairy delivers. This is an exciting time to create products and we look forward to connecting with founders to take them to the next level.”
The Health & Wellness market has grown significantly since the pandemic and is projected to reach over $8.47 trillion by 2027, according to Statista. Given real dairy’s natural versatility of benefits and functionality, this approach encourages innovation across product categories.
The program is on the hunt for any company building innovative products—made with at least 50 percent real milk or dairy. This year’s competition offers a value of up to $500,000 in prize and program value for products that introduce novel applications in any form and drive utilization of Real California dairy, a press release stated.
The Real California Milk Excelerator has worked with more than 50 startups across categories as diverse as food, beverage, direct-to-consumer platforms, textiles, and personal care. Alumni have gone from idea to distribution with organizations such as UNFI and KeHE; and many can now be found on the shelves of retailers like Walmart, Safeway, Kroger, Amazon, and Whole Foods Market.
Each of the eight participants selected for the 2024 cohort will have access to a group stipend and a robust network of resources to refine and scale their product and business. They will also participate in the three-month immersive CMAB/VentureFuel Mentorship Program.
The cohort will present their concepts at a live pitch event in November where four of the eight participants will receive $30,000 each. One company will unlock an additional $100,000 grand prize by establishing their presence in California and exhibiting the most promising growth within 12 months of the final competition.
The deadline to apply is July 2, 2024, so get moving!
