ELIGIBILITY 

The Midwest Dairy Accelerator is a competition open to any persons who, as of date of entry, (i) are legal residents of one of the ten (10) identified Midwest states, (ii) are at least eighteen (18) years of age or older (or the age of majority in their state of residence if greater than eighteen (18), whichever age is older), who have a promising product containing real cow’s milk or dairy ingredients. This product must currently be in the market and ready to scale. Eligible participants include startups, Small to Medium Enterprises, or a combination of these. 

Employees of Midwest Dairy and its Board Members, and members of the immediate family of any such persons, are not eligible to participate and win through any entity or otherwise. The term “immediate family” includes spouses, siblings, parents, children, grandparents, and grandchildren, whether as “in-laws,” or by current or past marriage(s), remarriage(s), adoption, co-habitation or other family extension, and any other persons residing at the same household whether or not related. 

To be eligible, an applicant must meet the following criteria for the product being submitted by the applicant or organization: 

• The business must be headquartered in the named Midwest states (Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Eastern Oklahoma)
• The product is commercially available in the market and ready to scale
• A majority (50% or more) of the product’s dairy ingredients/milk should ideally be sourced from the Midwest 
• A safe, working prototype of the product must be ready for judges to sample by the final event in September 2025 
• If the product is new or a spin-off from an existing business and the product meets the above criteria, it will also be eligible 

 PRODUCT REQUIREMENTS  

The applicant must have an innovative, ready-to-scale product featuring real cow’s dairy/milk as a key ingredient. These innovations may include, but are not at all limited to:   

• Beverages
• Cheeses(Hard/Soft)
• Frozen/Ice Cream
• Yogurts
• Butter Products
• Snacks
• Ready-to-eat or instant meals
• Dressings/Sauces/Condiments
• Confectionaries
• Dry/Powdered Food Products

 While a commitment to sourcing and using milk/dairy ingredients from the Midwest is prioritized, the product format or type is by no means confined to the above examples.  If unsure about eligibility to enter the Competition, please contact us directly at (venturefuel@midwestdairy.com) before submitting an entry. 

SELECTION CRITERIA 

A panel of judges will award up to $30,000 worth of total value prizing to innovative products containing milk / dairy ingredients. Companies will be evaluated and ranked according to the assessment criteria, as set out below. Decisions made by the jury are final and no correspondence will be entered into between judges and participants after decisions are made. The composition of the jury may vary, and judges will select up to four companies to participate in the program, one grand prize winner to receive a prize of $20,000, and a finalist to receive $10,000.  

An internal selection panel will evaluate applicants on the following selection criteria:

• Unique Value Proposition, Novelty, and “Secret Sauce” 
  • How innovative, differentiated, or novel is this commercialized product? If it wins, would this product showcase dairy innovation and generate excitement about the future of dairy? 
• Relevance and Total Market Potential
  • Does the product have a clear value proposition and path to market? Can this startup show demonstrable and sustainable growth after participating in the program? (i.e., can the model generate revenue and maintain a cost structure that allows for a competitive and sustainable business?)
• Challenges to Scale
  • Is the startup able to identify its bottlenecks to scaling, and does it have a plan to resolve these challenges? Can the startup provide a clear outline of how they’ll use the prize money to accelerate their growth? Is there tangible value and growth potential through the partnership with Midwest Dairy?
• Product Appeal and Quality
  • How appealing is the product to consumers in the Midwest (current traction) and to program judges (Pitch Day performance)? How is this product uniquely meeting consumer wants or needs? Criteria may include taste, likeability, and general consumer appeal.   
• Founder and Investor Teams, Fundability Potential  
  • Does this startup have the right team and expertise to execute? Do they have proven fundraising traction and the required subject matter expertise from investors, mentors, or advisors to continue to successfully scale?
• Marketability and Dairy Community Reach
  • Will this startup inspire press and media coverage of their product and the dairy community at large? Are they open to and excited about partnering with Midwest Dairy to use their likeness as part of their PR and media coverage? 
    

AWARD RECIPIENT SELECTION 

Selected Accelerator applicants will be eligible to compete for the following prizes: 

• Grand Prize Winner: $20,000.00
• Finalist: $10,000.00

PROGRAM TIMELINE

The Midwest Dairy Accelerator competition will consist of an application process, cohort selection, one virtual program kick-off event, 8 weeks of Accelerator programming, and one live pitch event.

During the 8-week program, participants will receive remote business support and mentorship from MWD, VentureFuel, and external leaders. Business support will be catered to the specific needs of the participating startups, but may include: 

• Marketing and Sales: Commercial video development, consumer messaging, insights strategy, marketing mentorship, and sales sheet creation  
• Product Development: Consumer research, packaging design, connections to retailers, suppliers, and processors  
• Fundraising: Investor memo creation, investor connections, fundraising education  
• Network Growth: Connections with founders, investors, corporate executives, and subject-matter experts in the CPG space 

FINAL PITCH EVENT & WINNER SELECTION  

A panel of judges will review all submitted applications and select up to four (4) Accelerator participants. At the end of the program, companies in this cohort will each appoint a spokesperson from their team to pitch their business and plans to a live audience and panel of judges during the final in-person pitch event (“Pitch Day”). Each pitch will be followed by a brief Q&A period for judges to seek more information to which the presenter will answer to the best of their ability. 

ADDITIONAL TERMS 

• Participants must be willing to work with Midwest Dairy and VentureFuel throughout the accelerator period to refine their product and business strategy.
• The grand prize and runner-up recipients must provide updates on their progress for at least one year post-program to share the impact of their participation. Progress KPIs will include (but are not limited to) the following examples:
  • Sales Growth: each cohort company's overall sales of the specific product in the Accelerator  
  • Dairy Usage: the total volume of milk / dairy ingredients (using Midwest Dairy's dairy calculator) utilized to evaluate operational output  
  • Market Reach: the number of retail stores, marketplaces, and merchants
• Midwest Dairy reserves the right to modify or amend the competition rules at any time.  

CONFIDENTIALITY AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY  

By submitting an application, the applicant agrees to the terms of the Midwest Dairy privacy policy. Access to the applications is granted to the Administrator and its designees (including, but not limited to, the Committee and Finals Judging Panel) for the purposes of review and judging (collectively, the “Reviewing Parties”). The Administrator, for itself and on behalf of the Reviewing Parties, offers and makes no guarantee of confidentiality, either explicit or implicit, in connection with any data or information presented or discussed by applicants, whether in the application or otherwise throughout the Competition. Applicants should confirm with appropriate advisors and legal counsel that any intellectual property described or disclosed in an application is held by the applicant and appropriately protected before the application is submitted, but this does not guarantee nondisclosure by Midwest Dairy if they are compelled to release documentation of the intellectual property by applicable law. Applicants should mark all trade secrets as “confidential trade secret,” recognizing that this precaution does not guarantee nondisclosure, but rather it assists Midwest Dairy in claiming an exemption from release should the documents be requested. Applicants should be prepared to provide reasonable back-up documentation for these statements, if requested by the Administrator. The authors of each applicant submission will retain all copyrights to the contents of their submission, provided that the Reviewing Parties may make photocopies, photographs, and video and/or audio recordings of any data or information divulged, presented, or discussed by any applicant throughout that applicant’s participation in the Competition. By submitting an application for the Competition, applicants agree to and hereby grant a license to the Administrator and the Reviewing Parties to use and reproduce such materials without restriction and without compensation and to conduct such due diligence as the Reviewing Parties determine is necessary or desirable for purposes of evaluating the application and carrying out the Competition as described herein. In addition, applicant agrees, for itself and each of its principals and officers, that the Administrator and its assigns will have the perpetual right to publicly post and reproduce certain information about the cohort and winners of Awards, including, but not limited to names of participating individuals, photographs, videos, category of business, logo and other marks, and an abstract (collectively, “Materials”) on the public areas of the Reviewing Parties’ websites, media sites and through other means, all without compensation. The Administrator and its assigns will also have the perpetual right to use the Materials for research, educational, advertising, promotional, not-for-profit, and other similar purposes.