Kansas City, KS—Applications are now being accepted for the 2022 Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) CoLAB Accelerator program, which will begin in April and run through June 2022.
The CoLAB Accelerator program, now in its sixth year, is designed to foster relationships with startup companies and help advance innovative solutions in the areas of ag-tech and dairy food products.
On the food front, for the 2022 program, DFA’s CoLAB Accelerator is seeking early-stage food product companies that are dairyfocused or dairy-based, including products using cheese, milk, butter, whey or other dairy-based ingredients. Companies developing innovative processing or manufacturing technologies for dairy products, including sustainable packaging, will also be considered.
Also, CoLAB Accelerator is looking for ag-tech companies with applications or technologies related to any portion of the dairy value chain, including, but not limited to, animal health, farm data management, supply chain optimization, farm labor and sustainability. Some ag-tech categories of particular interest to DFA include antibiotic alternatives, renewable or alternative energy, farm labor solutions, food waste technologies, automation and robotics, on-farm connectivity, animal identification and monitoring and animal transport technologies.
DFA’s CoLAB Accelerator includes:
—90-day immersive program, with both in-person and virtual training from April to June 2022.
—Access to top DFA executives, with each startup having a senior-level DFA contact relevant to their business area.
—Educational sessions on a variety of topics important for startup growth, including finance, business development, distribution and supply chain, product development, brand building, sales and marketing, packaging and pricing.
—Additional workshops that focus on areas such as leadership development, team building and creating company culture.
“At DFA, our mission is to deliver value to our family farm owners. This program is one way that we’re investing in new opportunities for the industry and helping drive innovation on the farm and in the dairy case,” said Doug Dresslaer, DFA’s director of innovation.
For more information, visit colab.dfamilk.com.
