SAN FRANCISCO, CA — On November 1st, WeWork will launch WeWork Food Labs, a workspace and and global platform dedicated to startups impacting the future of sustainable food, at WeWork Waterfront Plaza located at 60 Francisco Street.
This will be WeWork Food Labs’ first location in the West Coast and demonstrates WeWork’s continued commitment to supporting startups impacting the future of sustainable food. It brings together a team of experienced local leaders to build an experienced local leaders to build a framework that supports food startups, connecting them with mentors and investors. Each of Food Labs locations are equipped with a dedicated Food Labs Manager – an individual with extensive background in either entrepreneurship, VC or incubators/accelerators and contains deep knowledge of the startup and food industry. The Food Labs Manager will guide members through custom programming, mentorship and networking tools ensuring early-stage startups are given the best resources to succeed.
WeWork Food Labs will house up to 100 members and already have a number of incredible food startups committed as members, including 12 Tides, Brands of Britain, Redwood Consumer Group and ESV.
WeWork Food Labs is also proud to partner with Kitchentown, an organization based in the Bay area that enables a global community of innovators at every level of scale to co-create products and sustainable businesses that define the future of food.
All details on WeWork Food Labs at Waterfront Plaza with quotes from members and WeWork leadership are below.
Quotes
Quote from Menachem Katz, Head of Operations, WeWork Food Labs: “We are thrilled to broaden the WeWork Food Labs community to now include San Francisco, which allows us to leverage our global network and resources to tap into a greater talent pool of innovative founders. This launch serves as a step towards fulfilling the WeWork Food Labs mission — empowering even more innovators across the food and agricultural space with the tools and resources needed to power the future of food with sustainable solutions.”
Quote from Rusty Schwartz, Founder & CEO, KitchenTown: “We at KitchenTown believe changing the food system can be accelerated when we work together with others. We are excited to be partnering with WeWork Food Labs, to give startups and legacy food brands the space, resources and expertise needed to continue innovating within the food industry. We know that partnerships like these will allow food startups to scale quickly, achieve greater success and ultimately make an impact in our mission towards creating more sustainable food solutions.”
Quote from Elton Kwok, General Manager of Northern California WeWork: “San Francisco is the culinary capital of the United States; it’s only fitting that the first WeWork Food Labs on the West Coast will be right here at Waterfront Plaza. There is so much talent, innovation, and passion in the Bay Area food scene, and we’re thrilled that Food Labs will help to accelerate local talent and give them the support they need to get to the next level.”
Member Quote from Pat Schnettler, Founder and CEO of 12 Tides: “WeWork Food Labs is an incredible opportunity to collaborate with other entrepreneurs looking to change our food system for the better. There is a wide range of solutions for pressing issues across the global food system — the cross-pollination of ideas from different corners of the ecosystem can help create truly innovative answers to these problems.”
Why San Francisco?
Home to a number of early-stage innovators across the food ecosystem, San Francisco is a natural choice to bring the Food Labs program. With close to 500 unique food and beverage startups in the San Francisco Bay Area, the City is a thriving hub that is fostering innovation in the sustainable food industry.
Additionally, San Francisco has the community to support these founders, with leading mentors and resources, including disruptive food brands founded here such as Impossible Burger and Rebbl and well-known CPG brands like Del Monte and Premier Nutrition headquartered in the city. Food Labs aims to create a space to support these startups across the food and agriculture space – from supply chain and ag tech to distribution software, consumer goods, hospitality and more.
WeWork Food Labs Members
WeWork Labs at Waterfront Plaza will house up to 100 members across the food industry. There are a number of incredible food startups that have already signed up as members, including:
- 12 Tides: A company creating tasty, nutritious and sustainably-produced seaweed snacks. These snacks use high quality, nutrient-dense seaweed that support the health of our oceans.
- Brands of Britain: A company exclusively importing UK specialty food and beverages. Brands of Britain hand-selects brands that are manufactured in the UK based on their premium quality and all-natural ingredients.
- Redwood Consumer Group: An investment fund focusing on early stage consumer companies with exceptional growth prospects. Redwood Consumer builds small companies into enduring consumer franchises by providing capital and operational expertise.
- ESV: A mobile application redefining food by providing transparency into the safety, health, facility, and traceability of everyday food products to empower consumers to become more conscious shoppers.
How WeWork Food Labs Works
WeWork Food Labs is bringing together a team of experienced local leaders to build an experienced local leaders to build a framework that supports food startups, connecting them with mentors and investors. Each of Food Labs locations are equipped with a dedicated Food Labs Manager – an individual with extensive background in either entrepreneurship, VC or incubators/accelerators and contains deep knowledge of the startup and food industry. The Food Labs Manager will guide members through custom programming, mentorship and networking tools ensuring early-stage startups are given the best resources to succeed.
WeWork Food Labs x KitchenTown Partnership
WeWork Food Labs is proud to partner with KitchenTown, an organization based in the Bay area that enables a global community of innovators at every level of scale to co-create products and sustainable businesses that define the future of food.Through this partnership, Food Labs and KitchenTown will leverage one another’s powerful networks and core competencies — providing a robust support system that will help food entrepreneurs thrive.
A Global WeWork Network
Broadening WeWork’s Food Labs program to San Francisco will help build a network for food startups to connect and collaborate across the country. In addition to sharing resources with Food Labs space in New York, Food Labs members will be given access to our broader WeWork and WeWork Labs platforms, connecting with other founders, mentors, WeWork members and more around the globe. To date, the WeWork Labs program supports 1,600 startup companies in over 70 spaces, 42 cities and 19 countries.
