Corporate lawyer Jordan Gaspar was expecting her second child and investment banker Lauren Jupiter was planning a wedding when they hatched the idea for AccelFoods in late 2012. Both had begun to scrutinize the ingredients in the foods they were buying for their families—and they suspected they weren’t the only ones. Their investment thesis: Small companies in the natural, organic and so-called “better-for-you” food and beverage space could use help scaling and breaking into traditional grocery stores and food delivery services like FreshDirect. Gaspar and Jupiter worked on a business plan through 2013, and in January 2014 they officially launched AccelFoods with $4 million from early investors. Six years since that initial launch, AccelFoods is a $105 million fund with 36 firms in its portfolio, among them coconut water company Harmless Harvest; Siete Foods, which sells allergen-free Mexican products; and Wandering Bear Coffee. A VC fund led by two women is rare, and despite the influx of competitors in recent years, AccelFoods remains one of the food world’s most important funds.
