The Dohmen Company announced on Thursday that they have acquired FoodChain, a UW–Madison spinout focused on connecting farmers, suppliers, and consumers with an innovative online marketplace.
FoodChain’s platform allows producers to list, advertise, and sell their products in new markets while purchasers can browse an active inventory of local foods and have all their products consolidated into a single purchaser order and digital invoice.
UW–Madison alum Ben Winters and his co-founder Jake Levitt launched the company in fall 2019, and they credit UW–Madison’s Discovery to Product (D2P) and gener8tor’s gBETA Madison program for providing them with key assistance.
“The personalized mentorship provided by D2P and gBETA was so helpful in shaping FoodChain’s early success,” says Winters. “The expert advice and connections we’ve gained through both programs has continued to be extremely valuable.”
Discovery to Product is a campus program that helps faculty, staff, and student innovators bring ideas to the marketplace. gBETA Madison is a free, seven-week accelerator that works with startups for no fees and no equity.
A statement released by the Dohmen Company emphasized the acquisition’s connection to their primary mission of revitalizing people and communities using food as the primary intervention.
“FoodChain provides a digital system that speeds the process of commercial exchange between local food producers and local food purchasers. We see this capability as an important strategic element of our preventive health solution,” said Dohmen Company Foundation President Dale Mittelstaedt.
