Accelerating Originators

FROM AN IDEA — TO A BRAND — TO A BUSINESS

We understand that skilled people and steady support are needed to successfully scale a great idea into a brand, and then into a business. Our goal is to help food & beverage artisans and craftspeople find success faster than they can on their own. (We’re also pretty stoked to strengthen local business ecosystems, provide awesome jobs and contribute to healing our badly fractured economy.)

We are a committed, energetic team of service-focused leaders whose passion is co-developing brands with artisans that consumers, retailers and investors love.

LET'S GROW TOGETHER.

About Us

PUTTING PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES FIRST.

Did you know there is only a 0.1% success rate across the startup ecosystem? Emerging companies need better support. Our model of collaborative innovation, funding and shared services helps achieve economies of scale for artisan producers as we accelerate their brands toward becoming successful, profitable companies. We have the right recipe — with the transformative difference of an applied team of highly accomplished industry professionals and funding.

We start, buy and invest in innovative food & beverage businesses.

Experience

With over 100 years of combined global F&B experience, our team knows how to build food & beverage brands, increase revenue, scale up production, manage outsourcing, finance growth and develop teams.

Relationships

Our access to ingredients, co-packing capabilities, and investor, distributor, retail and foodservice relationships spans the globe — with access to almost every market worldwide.

Investments

Money is complicated. We can help.
We bring the funding necessary to develop and scale great brands, along with the know-how to allocate it at all stages.

Canadian Food Industry Statistics

$186 million

Value of Canadian agribusiness investments in 2019

1000+

New food startups each year from coast to coast

$550 million

Spent by Whitewave to buy Vega, a Burnaby-based startup

$25 billion

Foreign direct investment in the Canadian food processing sector

Why Esca?

Esca does not assume all innovators, scientists and craftspeople are entrepreneurs or business people, so we created Esca. We bring financial investment, full-time food and beverage business support, global networks and more to free up artisans to focus on brand development and innovation while we focus on the business.

More than money

With Esca, you’re guaranteed equity, dividends and a salary. Steady living.

More than mentorship

No more maker burnout. We want you to focus on what you do best: create.

More than local

Expand further and faster than you can on your own, locally and worldwide.

More than advice

Esca brings marketing, sales, people operations, administration, finance, distribution and logistics expertise. We roll up our sleeves and get to work right alongside you.

More than partnership

We are artisans, operators and investors. We’ve walked your path ourselves — and bring our networks and acumen to your innovation.

Leadership

We are an innovation force like no other. And we know that together, we create far more powerful outcomes than we can by going it alone. Our recipe for success is our combined experience, boundless energy and our second-to-none passion for food & beverage innovation, along with our unique approach to accelerating brands toward becoming awesome companies.

Peter Elkins

Co-founder, Capital Investment Network; CEO, GUTZ EMS; management consultant, Kauffman Global; board member, Alacrity Foundation; board member, LatAm Startups; member, Province of British Columbia Emerging Economy Task Force

Peter finds ways to direct investment toward meaningful solutions so more people can benefit. A leader in entrepreneurship and community economic development.

Email Peter

Esca Ecosystem

The secret sauce? Our unique ecosystem. Businesses grow further and faster with our unique combination of financing and shared services.

Our shared services, referrals and investment build innovative food & beverage companies quickly, letting originators continue to create more innovative products — and do what they do best.

FAQ

I have made an amazing tasting yogurt that is both sugar and dairy free, and has only three ingredients. I have other great ideas, but I can't find the time to develop them. I think I need a co-founder, as I lack both entrepreneurial and business interest and acumen. What can I do? Making awesome products is my Why.

You are exactly the kind of founder we look to partner with. Esca is a “startup studio”, accelerating your brand idea into a strong and generative company using our unique shared services team. We collaborate around your vision, allowing you to focus on what you do best: create!

I am interested in partnering with Esca. What are my next steps?

We have an informative open-source due diligence process that is both quick and fair. We will start by evaluating the taste of your product(s) and the business to date (typically pre-revenue ideas or brands with less than $1M in sales) to begin developing the architecture of your brand playbook. If you agree with our equity, salary, dividend and benefits offer, you will be invited to become part of Esca. After that we all roll up our sleeves as a team, you move into a creative role, and we collaboratively get down to our work.

I am considering partnering with Esca, but what are shared services?

Historically, business incubators offer business advice and startup mentoring. That’s a great approach for people with a strong entrepreneurial base, but our observations have shown it’s not well suited to artisans. We believe artisans want to improve their craft — and as businesspeople, so do we want to improve our craft. We feel that it’s better to operate as a startup studio that employs professionals in all areas of business, from operations to sales to finance and beyond. This generates the quickest and best results as we look to collectively bring innovation though commercialization to market.

I am an artisan considering working with Esca. What is revenue-based financing used for in this case?

Revenue-based financing (RBF) is a type of short-term debt financing that is repaid as a percentage of the monthly revenue generated by the company. With the repayments being more flexible through the ups and downs of business, RBF ensures that financial liabilities don’t cripple the brands.

What happens after my brand starts getting traction in the market?

Using our analytics (open-source), we continually develop the roadmap for the brand to be a standalone company, with the intention of leaving the shared services and financing model as soon as possible. Usually, this occurs when sales are enough to cover the leadership team’s salaries. Typically, one of three things will happen: 1) we will have created a great new small business we will sell to the employees; 2) we have created a unicorn and we will work with venture capital firms to scale quickly into new markets; or 3) we create an early acquisition scenario for a strategic buyer to take the brand(s) and bring them into a new family of products with one of our larger partners, which means another liquidity event for you, the founder.

I represent a private equity firm. How does Esca benefit us?

Private equity firms typically want to keep a close eye on Esca, as our portfolio of food & beverage companies are well on their way to being great acquisitions. Typically, PE firms will invest in Esca for early access to highly profitable deal flow.

I represent a venture capital firm. How does Esca benefit us?

Venture capital firms also want to keep a close eye on Esca, as each of the companies within our portfolio are on a path targeting beyond $5M in annual revenues, making them great venture investments as they scale globally.

I represent a family office. How does Esca benefit us?

Family offices have an opportunity to invest in the venture capital arm of Esca and benefit from equity investments in our rapidly growing portfolio of food & beverage companies. They can benefit extensively from the high-yield liquidity events. They can either cash out or acquire further equity, up to 100% in these companies.

I represent a large food & beverage company. How does Esca benefit us?

Like PE companies, food & beverage companies also have an opportunity to acquire early access to deal flow. Esca can also perform outsourced research & development for strategics.

I support economic development in my region. How can Esca help us?

Esca is designed to create and support local living economies, and local food & beverage movements. Esca works in the smallest communities to the largest cities in the world. We believe our open-source business model plugs seamlessly into other venture accelerators, incubators, hubs, marketplaces and national, regional or local economic-development and food-security initiatives.

It is a simple model that is easily implemented. All that Esca requires to get started are people in your community with a desire to innovate, and local agencies willing to connect these amazing artisans and craftspeople to Esca so we can assist funding their food & beverage ideas.