THE FOOD VENTURE ACCELERATOR STORY

From Seminar Spark to Shelf-Ready Empires

Food Venture Accelerator began in late 2019 when Kiran Bains and Sima Gandhi connected at agri-food marketing seminar.

Kiran, a Registered Dietitian, Nutritionist and scaling expert, delivered hard-hitting insights on turning recipes into revenue.

Sima, a program strategist from MaRS Discovery District, spotted the gap: passionate food entrepreneurs needed a clear path to retail.

The duo sketched a blueprint over coffee. They combined Kiran’s flavor-preservation mastery with Sima’s new venture growth prowess. Their mission: deliver a fail-fast* system to transform kitchen ideas into shelf-dominating CPG brands.

Originally launched as Food Venture Program, the initiative rebranded to Food Venture Accelerator in 2025. The name change reflects explosive growth and a sharper focus on launching early stage growth.

Kiran and Sima have powered 1500+ brands past $50K mistakes. They’ve secured co-packers in weeks, crushed FDA/CFIA hurdles, and landed their clients on platforms like Dragon's Den (Canada's version of Shark Tank). 

Kiran and Sima are the knowledgeable, friendly mentors every food entrepreneur craves. Ready to build your empire? The resources are here—let’s make shelves shake.

*Fail fast techniques involve quickly testing and refining ideas to identify and learn from mistakes early, minimizing wasted resources.