Grants, resources, and training to support women, immigrant and BIPOC-owned restaurants
Main Street Accelerator Program
is now in session
Together, DoorDash and Accion Opportunity Fund, along with other restaurant industry experts, constructed an eight-week course that will provide 100 participants with an immersive curriculum covering topics such as marketing, technology integration, managing cash flow and menu creation.
Curriculum: A Closer Look
Week 1
Finding Your Niche
Week 2
Build a Financial Roadmap and Access Capital
Week 3
Permits, Licensing, Regulations, and all Things Legal
Week 4
Create the Right Menu
Week 5
Get the Word Out: Marketing Like a Pro
Week 6
Integrate Technology
Week 7
Scale Your Business
Week 8
Graduation: What's Next for Your Business?
Meet the Advisors
DoorDash has organized an Advisory Committee of leading restaurant owners and operators to advise on Accelerator programming and provide further professional and educational support. The committee includes:
Ellen Yin
Co-Founder and Owner
High Street Hospitality Group
Tanya Holland
Executive Chef and Owner
Brown Sugar Kitchen
Chef Deborah VanTrece
Creative Director and Owner
Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours
Nyesha Arrington
Chef and Host
Eater’s Plateworthy
In partnership with
Accion Opportunity Fund
Accion Opportunity Fund works to create an inclusive, healthy financial system that supports the nation’s small business owners by connecting entrepreneurs to affordable capital, educational resources, coaching, and networks. Through innovative partnerships and outreach strategies, Accion Opportunity Fund reaches underserved entrepreneurs — including entrepreneurs of color, low-income entrepreneurs, and women — who often lack access to the financial services they need to build and grow their businesses.
Introducing the Main Street Strong Accelerator Participants
We are proud to announce the selection of 100 restaurateurs to participate in our inaugural Main Street Strong Accelerator
El Ponce
Owner: Rosa Thurnher
Pi-bytes
Owner: Darrell Sprattling
Tigi's Cafe and Food Truck
Owner: Bellete Tessema
Supreme Burger
Owner: Waleed Shamsid-Deen
Farmed Kitchen and Bar
Owner: Sean Rush
The Wing Suite
Owner: Kartisha Henry
Lee's Southern Kitchen
Owner: James Lee
Krab Kween
Owner: Denice Weber
Lolita's Parlour
Owner: Lolita Yagnik
Canna Bistro
Owner: Swan Simpson
Buenos Dias Cafe
Owner: Jeannette Katz
D Cafe and Catering
Owner: Devotis Lee
iNatural Eats
Owner: Shirley Moon
The Funnel Cake Guys
Owner: Tameka Thomas
I am truly excited to be a part of the DoorDash Accelerator program in the coming weeks. There's not a concrete playbook for running your own restaurant and I am confident that this opportunity will provide additional education and resources to help set my restaurant up for long-term success. This investment of time will allow me to make an immediate impact on my business, my employees, and the community I serve.
Community is core to banh oui. and we are proud to have provided hundreds of meals to farmers each weekend during the pandemic. We’re incredibly grateful to have our efforts recognized by DoorDash after a tough year. As banh oui. continues to grow, assistance in revamping our business plan and connecting with like minded individuals will be invaluable to reaching our future goals.
Despite the challenges of COVID, we remain committed to service. It has been through harnessing the collective energy of the community, private foundations, government contracts and grants that we have been able to pivot, stay afloat and continue to serve our Atlanta community. We thank DoorDash and are really excited about the DoorDash grant and the Main Street Strong Accelerator program. We look forward to learning strategies to support us, help us sustain and grow during these difficult times.
The inaugural class of Accelerator participants represent a diverse cohort of restaurateurs and business owners.
61%
women
47%
identify as immigrant or refugee
38%
identify as Black or African American
15%
identify as Latino, Latinx, or Hispanic
12%
identify as East Asian
9%
identify as South Asian
Frequently Asked Questions
The entire restaurant industry has experienced the hardships of the COVID-19 pandemic, but BIPOC-owned businesses are at the greatest risk of permanent closure and economic setback. These businesses and the people behind them are vital to the culture, spirit, and economic health of local communities, and the Main Street Strong Accelerator will provide the capital, support, and marketing they need to grow. Each of the 100 participating businesses will have access to:
- 8-week curriculum designed to stabilize and adapt your business for long-term success
- 1:1 financial, legal, and other support from industry experts
- $20,000 in grants to keep your restaurant open
- Free merchandising and marketing benefits from DoorDash
Applications closed March 2, 2021 at 5 pm PT.
February 23, 2021
Applications open
March 2, 2021
Applications close
March 19, 2021
Participants notified
April 5 – May 28, 2021
Program in session
In its inaugural year, the Accelerator aims to address the hardships of the COVID-19 pandemic, which have disproportionately impacted businesses that are women, immigrant, or BIPOC-owned. The program is open to all restaurant owners and operators who:
- Are operating three or fewer restaurant locations
- Have been operating for 2 or more years
- Have 50 employees or fewer across all locations
- Are located in NYC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia or Atlanta
- Are able to commit three hours per week to the program from April 5th-May 28th
Note: Participants do not need to be DoorDash or Caviar partners to participate in the program.
The application is designed to glean a better understanding of the business’ long term goals and unique experience operating during the COVID-19 pandemic. A rubric will be used to review and score each application. The rubric is based on the application questions and the program's overall objective to support the business owner's plan.
No. Applications to the program are open to eligible restaurants regardless of whether they are current DoorDash or Caviar partners.
Participants will receive $10,000 at the beginning of the program in early April, and $10,000 at the conclusion in May. The goal of the Accelerator program is to help entrepreneurs not only learn hard skills necessary for adapting to challenges of the pandemic, but to create very unique tailored business plans to apply to their restaurants for the future. We want the funds to help propel their plans as they graduate from the Accelerator program. But we know restaurants are struggling and there are immediate needs as well.
This is the first year we are hosting the Accelerator program, but we plan to bring it back annually as part of our Main Street Strong Pledge.
Our nonprofit implementing partner Accion Opportunity Fund will manage TalentLMS as a learning platform for all participants in the program. Participants will have access to a variety of self-paced, pre-recorded content in the learning hub, in addition to interactive discussion boards, worksheets and templates, and weekly live sessions.
If you have access needs to participate in the Accelerator, please email accelerator@doordash.com. While the format of this round of the Accelerator is best suited for proficient English speakers, we’re committed to supporting language access and look forward to providing resources that address multilingual needs.