Participated · Equity · Jan 2022

Meez is a recipe management app that lets chefs and foodservice teams digitally manage and execute recipe workflows — from creation and costing to organization and training. Founded in 2020 by CEO Josh Sharkey, the company serves fine dining and fast-casual restaurants, culinary schools, ghost kitchens and catering companies. It has grown from around 750 customers at seed to roughly 1,200 kitchens worldwide, with tens of thousands of active users and 41 employees. Meez says it nearly tripled revenue since the beginning of the year and offers a free plan plus two paid tiers for kitchen teams starting at $49 per month. The company plans to deploy new funding into product and engineering, marketing and new premium features that let chefs assess recipe-driven profitability and adjust menus based on sales, demand and margin data. Longer-term product work includes a baker-focused component for ingredient percentages and an effort to create a universal recipe language for storing, creating, organizing and sharing recipes. Meez offers a collaboration-focused recipe keeper and culinary operating system that centralizes recipes, training, prep workflows and operational resources in one platform. The product handles recipe ingestion and scalability, and includes ingredient yields, unit conversion, a menu cost calculator, automated allergen tagging and nutrition analysis. Launched in 2020, Meez describes itself as a “Google Drive for chefs” and serves a mix of restaurants and culinary schools. Its customer roster includes major restaurateurs like Jose Andres and Jean-Georges Vongerichten and the Institute of Culinary Education. The company grew from 20 paying customers in December 2020 to more than 750 today, and reported revenue growth of roughly 22% month over month. Meez plans to use new capital to build an iOS app, advance technology (menu planning and self-onboarding automation), test direct-to-consumer recipe engagement, attract new restaurant customers and expand its team (currently 17 employees, with plans to add about 10).

Led · Equity · Aug 2020

Blanket is a work management solution and communication tool built for multi-unit restaurant operators, handling tasks from food safety to repairs and maintenance. The platform helps organize and execute everyday work across multi-unit restaurant operations. Blanket closed an $800K funding round to continue expanding operations, business reach, and product development. The round was led by Aurify Brands with participation from Branded Strategic Hospitality. Aurify piloted Blanket in 80% of their locations and will onboard the platform to all 50+ U.S. Le Pain Quotidien stores. Other clients include Pokeworks, Five Guys, Little Beet Brands, 5 Napkin Burger, Branded Restaurants, Glaze Teriyaki and Melt Shop.