Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Brooklyn Restaurants Amongst Those Selected for $20K DoorDash Grant, Mentorship

Bushwick Grind Café and The Sampler are amongst the 20 restaurants selected for the business accelerator program
Ma-n-Pop Soul Food on Lewis Avenue is set to open next Wednesday. Photo: Jessy Edwards for the BK Reader.

A new business accelerator program for restaurants owned by women, immigrants or people of color has announced its cohort of winners — including six Brooklyn restaurants.

Bushwick Grind Café, Jam'It Bistro, Le Paris Dakar, The Sampler, The Farm on Adderley and Savvy Bistro and Bar are amongst the 20 NYC restaurants that will receive a $20,000 grant and take part in a eight week accelerator program thanks to DoorDash and the Accion Opportunity Fund as part of the inaugural Main Street Strong Accelerator.

Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce Chief Policy Officer and EVP Samara Karasyk said small businesses made Brooklyn the vibrant, diverse and innovative community it was today.

"COVID-19 has threatened the survival of so many small businesses, and restaurants have been among the hardest hit by the ongoing pandemic," she said.

"It's great to see DoorDash supporting New York's entrepreneurs and providing historically underserved communities with capital and resources so that our communities can rebuild from this crisis."

In a statement, DoorDash said participants were selected because they demonstrated an exceptional commitment to their communities and shared a clear, actionable plan of how they'd use the resources from this program.

Michael Tan, the owner of selected restaurant Eggloo in Manhattan, said the team was excited to meet other entrepreneurs, and learn and grow together with a diverse group.

He said that would also be beneficial to developing his business into a more community oriented space, and helping with the goal of supporting other Asian American founded food & beverage brands.

"The past year our team experienced many challenges, but we remained focused on growing our brand in new ways outside of the store, so that we could ultimately continue to support the community around us," he said.

"We are also excited to lend our own knowledge as we hope it will be beneficial to those to expand their businesses as well."

The Accion Opportunity Fund is helping to build and run the Main Street Strong Accelerator Program, designed to meet the needs of restaurant owners most impacted by the pandemic. Nearly 90% of the nonprofit's small business clients are women, immigrants, and people of color, the statement said.

The program will kick off with virtual instruction and discussion courses on April 5, and will include topics such as finding your niche; building a financial roadmap; permits, licencing and regulation; menu creation; marketing; technology; business scaling and future planning.




Comments