The food startup scene has long been a bright spot for the city, due in part to the recycling of talent and funding from large companies like Kraft Heinz and Conagra Brands. Illinois universities have robust agricultural programs that feed a talent pipeline, and the area is home to big-name, food-focused investors, such as Walmart heir Lukas Walton and former McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson.

Furthermore, the pandemic accelerated innovation in Chicago’s food and beverage industry, as some startups benefited from online grocery shopping and at-home cooking, and others sprung up to solve problems COVID created.

Chicago’s food startups have also paid off for investors, such as Kroger’s purchase of meal kit company Home Chef in a deal worth up to $700 million and Kellogg’s $600 million acquisition of RXBar. Other startups in town are attracting high-profile investors and making buzz, like Nature’s Fynd, a company growing a meat alternative in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood that has funding from firms backed by Al Gore, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates.

The Future-of-Food is the city’s way of doubling down on that standing, said Michael Fassnacht, president and CEO of World Business Chicago and chief marketing officer for the city. He wants the event to connect food startups to funding, and highlight them.

“We have to solidify our position as the food innovation capital,” he said. “We want to show our love and respect for all the food and agriculture founders.”

A slew of Chicago food behemoths are sponsoring the event, including Ingredion; Quaker Foods; Ferrero, which makes Butterfingers, Crunch and Baby Ruth bars in Franklin Park and Bloomington; plus Thompson’s firm Cleveland Avenue and others.

The Chicago Venture Summit was launched in 2014 and is held every 14 to 16 months. Fassnacht said that, eventually, the event will feature a focus on innovation in other industries, too, such as health care and manufacturing.

World Business Chicago and other groups, such as nonprofit P33, have been focused in recent years on boosting Chicago’s standing as a tech hub. The two worked together on a national advertising campaign last year to attract tech workers to the city.

Indeed, venture-capital funding reached new heights in Chicago last year as startup investing soared around the nation, according to data from deal tracker Pitchbook and the National Venture Capital Association. Chicago-area startup funding grew to $7 billion via 374 deals in 2021, up from $3 billion in 321 deals in 2020. That mirrored national trends, with startup investing hitting $330 billion last year.

Chicago still lags behind other tech hubs, such as the Bay Area, New York, Boston and Los Angeles.

The city still has work to do, Fassnacht said, particularly in early-stage funding, in celebrating young startups and in technology transfer from university research.

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