Maria Empanada offers artisanal, hand-crafted and fresh-baked empanadas, tartas and Spanish tortillas across three locations in the Denver metro area. The company was founded in Denver in 2010 by Lorena Cantarovici, who started the business as a catering operation baked out of her family’s home and garage. Maria Empanada emphasizes artisanal preparation—each empanada is finished by hand—and has earned recognition including the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2017 Colorado Small Business Person of the Year Award, Zagat coverage, a Top 50 Colorado Companies to Watch Award, and features on the Food Network. Financially, the company has secured up to $3.5 million in Series A funding from the Colorado Impact Fund. Management says the investment will be used to drive growth of new Maria Empanada locations and scale the craft-casual concept nationally. CIF highlighted its support for female and minority-led businesses and cited the company’s potential for high growth and profitability.

Total raised

$4M

Funding rounds

1

Latest round

Series A

Latest activity

Nov 2017