Best Startup
At Best Startup US we track over 1,000,000 US startups and over 3 million people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top United States based Founder operating in the Hospitality space. If you think a Founder is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.us.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
Fatima Dicko
Founder & CEO of Sugar
Prior to founding Jetpack at Stanford University, Fatima worked as the youngest senior engineer on a product innovation team at Procter & Gamble focusing on products 3-10 years away from market. Having been awarded several corporate innovation awards such as ‘Most Transformative Product Design’ and the ‘P&G Global Innovation Seed Fund’, her key competencies include designing simple solutions to complex problems. Fatima holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University, where she received a Gold King’s Crown Leadership Award and an MBA from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
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About Sugar: Sugar builds community and transforms the residential experience by integrating with technology stacks that power modern buildings.
Rick Blatstein
Founder & CEO of OTG
Rick Blatstein, founder and CEO of OTG Management, found his calling putting gourmet cuisine, swanky design and high-tech integrations into the drab world of airport terminals. OTG’s innovative approach to creating an “experience” is delighting travelers and catching the attention of airlines and airport operators.
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About OTG: OTG Management is a operator of airport food and beverage concessions
Ryan Simonetti
CEO & Co-Founder of Convene
Ryan is the Co-Founder and CEO of Convene, commercial real estate’s first workplace-as-a-service platform. His unique expertise in real estate acquisitions, development, and structured finance has helped catapult Convene to become a pioneer in the industry.
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About Convene: Convene designs and services premium places to work, meet, and host events.
Susan Ho
Founder & CEO of Journy
Susan has helped build some of the fastest growing companies in NYC, including Fab.com, DigitalOcean, Blue Apron, and LearnVest. Susan graduated from Wharton and was a consultant at BCG before startups. She met Leiti nearly a decade ago while dancing on speakers in Shanghai.
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About Journy: Journy is a personalized travel planning service that pairs travelers 1-on-1 with their own personal trip designer.
Dot Bustelo
CEO/Founder of Loupe
Dot Bustelo, CEO/Founder of Apple TV visual art streaming platform Loupe, recognized as a Creative Technologies/Entertainment Software Strategist. She developed Loupe in 2016 as a visual complement to streaming music platforms, featured by Apple and reaching #1 Lifestyle app around the world. An internationally-recognized Apple Logic Pro consultant, music producer, Emmy Award-winning sound designer, author and stage demonstrator of Apple software, Dot formerly worked on Apple’s Worldwide Product Team introducing Apple product software techniques to A-list artists, engineers and their producers such as Maroon 5, The Killers, John Legend, One Republic, T. Pain and M.I.A. After Apple, she went on to author #1 Amazon best-selling books on Apple software and online courses for Lynda.com and consulted to iOS and Mac audio app companies. An electronic music producer herself with licenses to Sony PlayStation, NBC, VH1, CBS, and MTV, she serves on the Recording Academy’s National Advisory Council of the Producers & Engineering Wing. In her spare time, Dot writes science fiction.
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About Loupe: Pioneering service transforming how art is experienced; #1 Lifestyle app in 64 countries on AppleTV/Fire TV/Android/PlutoTV/Samsung/Comcast
Eddie Lou
Co-Founder of Shiftgig
An active problem-solver and strategist, Eddie guides Shiftgig from an idea to an expanding technology business. He is also a co-founder and executive board director of One Goal, an education nonprofit, and has invested in and advised start-up entrepreneurs. He was formerly a General Partner at OCA Ventures and holds an MBA and a B.S. in Engineering from Washington University. A relentless competitor, Eddie did the Louisville Ironman, placing 2nd in the Janus Charity Challenge.
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About Shiftgig: Shiftgig helps staffing firms empower their workforce to browse and claim work that fit their skills and schedules.
Jamie Hodari
CEO & Co-Founder of Industrious
Jamie Hodari is the Co-Founder and CEO of Industrious. Prior to Industrious, Jamie was the CEO and Co-Founder of Kepler, a rapidly growing experimental university that Scientific American called a “daring global experiment” to bring “top-tier instruction to the neediest parts of the planet.”Jamie previously ran the education non-profit Generation Rwanda, analyzed investments at the hedge fund Birch Run Capital and was a project finance lawyer at the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell. He started his career as a journalist at the Times of India. Jamie holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, an M.P.P. from Harvard University, and a B.A. from Columbia University.
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About Industrious: Industrious is a premium flexible workspace provider that redefines the workplace experience.
Justin Stewart
President & Co-Founder of Industrious
ustin is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Industrious. Previously Justin served as Director of Acquisitions and Operations at Windham Development and Windham China, where he headed their US Real Estate operations. He was previously a Vice President at Madison Realty Capital, but his career highlight will forever be the time he worked for the writing team at the Late Show with his childhood idol, David Letterman. He is the childhood next-door neighbor of Industrious co-founder Jamie Hodari, allowing them an early start dreaming about the future of office space. Justin can be found living with his fiancé in New York’s Lower East Side, along with their dog, confusingly named Chicken. Justin holds a Graduate Certification in Real Estate Finance and Development from NYU and a B.A. from Indiana University.
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About Industrious: Industrious is a premium flexible workspace provider that redefines the workplace experience.
Corey Ashton Walters
Founder & CEO of Here
Corey Ashton Walters is the Founder & CEO of Here, a revolutionary online marketplace that enables anyone anywhere to invest in vacation rentals online and earn passive income—without ever lifting a finger. Prior to founding Here, Corey, a seasoned entrepreneur, brand builder, and college dropout, has founded multiple successful companies over the last 15 years. Most recently in 2017, Corey co-founded Homeworthy, a venture-backed first-of-its-kind fully remote home selling experience available to homeowners located in more than 900 cities across the Pacific Northwest.
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About Here: Here makes investing in vacation rentals as easy as buying stocks.
Ravishankar Gundlapalli
Founder, President & Chief Solutions Officer of MentorCloud
Ravishankar Gundlapalli is the Founder, Executive Chairman, President, and Chief Solutions Officer at MentorCloud.
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About Founder Institute, MentorCloud: MentorCloud is a cloud-based mentoring platform for enterprises to accelerate digital transformation, employee engagement and retention.
Amrou Manaseer
Co-Founder and CEO of The Madera Group
Amrou Manaseer drives the overall vision and strategy for Tocaya Organica. He plays an active role in leading the senior executive team, and is responsible for the company’s business planning and development, including organizational design, legal framework and project management for the group’s continuous improvement and constraint optimization activities. Prior to Tocaya Organica, Manaseer served as a partner at Jump Trading, one of the world’s largest and most successful proprietary trading firms.
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About The Madera Group: The Madera Group is a hospitality company
Scott Kubly
Founder & CEO of Cabana
Scott Kubly is director of the Seattle Department of Transportation. Appointed by Mayor Ed Murray in July 2014, Scott oversees transportation policy, capital project delivery, transportation and maintenance operations, transit and mobility improvements, and management of the City’s right of way. He led the creation of the award winning Move Seattle Plan, which outlines Mayor Murray’s 10-year vision for transportation in Seattle, and delivers a comprehensive strategy for connecting and enhancing the city’s many ways to travel. Scott was also a lead architect of the voter-approved Levy to Move Seattle, which provides $930 million to improve safety, maintain streets and bridges, and invest in reliable, affordable travel options for a growing city. Scott additionally serves as the vice president of the National Association of City Transportation Officials.
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About Cabana: Cabana is a travel startup that turns vans into bookable mobile hotels.
Adam Harris
CEO and Co-Founder of Cloudbeds
Adam Harris is the Co-founder and CEO of Cloudbeds. Together with Co-founder Richard Castle, Adam has led Cloudbeds from a small startup to an award-winning company that powers over 20,000 properties in 135 countries worldwide.I have a diversified finance, transmedia marketing, and web technologies background ranging from being a technology investment banker, a technology consultant to emerging business, and the founder of numerous technology start-ups.
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About Cloudbeds: Cloudbeds is a vertical SaaS business that creates cloud-based hospitality management software.
Reggie Aggarwal (CEO and Founder)
Founder & CEO of Cvent
Reggie Aggarwal is the CEO and Founder of Cvent, the leader in meetings, events and hospitality software. A lawyer by trade, Reggie founded Cvent in 1999 as a two-person startup, with the goal of making meeting planning easier for his peers in the business community. Reggie was named the #1 SaaS CEO by The SaaS Report in their 2019 Top 50 SaaS CEO list and Entrepreneur of the Year for the Washington, DC area by Ernst & Young. He was also named the most admired CEO in the Washington, DC area by the Washington Business Journal, one of the 100 most Intriguing Entrepreneurs by Goldman Sachs, and a rising star by Forbes Magazine. He has been featured in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Forbes and Business Week. He has also been interviewed on CNN, MSNBC, the BBC and several other popular news shows.
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About Cvent: Cvent delivers the most comprehensive event marketing & management platform, maximizing the impact of in-person, virtual, and hybrid events.
Chuck Ghoorah (Co-founder)
Co-Founder & President of Worldwide Sales & Marketing of Cvent
Chuck Ghoorah is the co-founder and President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing at Cvent. Chuck has been instrumental in Cvent’s growth from a two-person startup to an industry-leading global organization. Cvent has helped its more than 30,000 customers manage millions of events.
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About Cvent: Cvent delivers the most comprehensive event marketing & management platform, maximizing the impact of in-person, virtual, and hybrid events.
David Quattrone
Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer of Cvent
David Quattrone has been with Cvent since the company’s founding, bringing a wealth of expertise in designing and developing large-scale Internet applications. David designed and supervised the development of Cvent’s original beta product as well as all of Cvent’s subsequent product releases, upgrades and redesigns. Prior to co-founding Cvent, David worked at First Consulting Group, a leading provider of information-based consulting, integration, and management services. There, David specialized in large-scale custom Internet/Intranet application design and development. David’s clients included BlueCross/BlueShield Association, United States Postal Service, and MCI. He was also a Consultant with E.J. Bell Systems, a software integration and application development firm, where he helped found the company’s Internet/Intranet development practice. Prior to E.J. Bell Systems, David co-founded Network Resources Group, a New York based firm specializing in Internet software integration and application development. At Network Resources Group, David created the Online Gaming Review, an online publication subsequently acquired by Air Age publishing.
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About Cvent: Cvent delivers the most comprehensive event marketing & management platform, maximizing the impact of in-person, virtual, and hybrid events.
Andy Zhang
Founder of Caviar
Andy Zhang is the founder at Caviar.
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About Caviar, Munch On Me: Caviar is a delivery solution for consumers to order food from local eateries with the ability to live-track the order on a map.
Geoff McFarlane
Co-Founder and CEO of Winc
Geoff McFarlane is the Co-Founder and CEO of Winc. He is an entrepreneur incorporating over seven years experience in project management and finance. Proven track record in building highly customized projects and successful businesses. Has successfully acquired unsuccessful businesses and made them profitable, while creating an effective business model. His specialties: Skills include budgeting, financial analysis, and management of construction process.
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About Winc: Winc is a winery company with a direct connection to the consumer, building a portfolio of brands for the next generation of wine drinkers.
Xander Oxman
Chairman & Co-Founder of Winc
Xander Oxman is a Co-Founder of Winc.
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About Winc: Winc is a winery company with a direct connection to the consumer, building a portfolio of brands for the next generation of wine drinkers.
Brian Smith
Co-Founder, Chief Wine Officer of Winc
Brian is President, COO and Co-Founder of Winc.
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About Winc: Winc is a winery company with a direct connection to the consumer, building a portfolio of brands for the next generation of wine drinkers.
Yatin Patel
Co-Founder of Reservations.com
Yatin Patel has over 20 years of successful internet technology/e-commerce business experience as an entrepreneur, designer, founder, investor, and operator; focused most significantly in the hospitality industry. Patel is a Co-founder of Reservations.com. Patel has built, owned, sold, invested and operated numerous companies, including: HotelReservations.com, SelectCovers.com, HotelSavings.com, BoostCTR.com, iOutdoor.com, RugsNow.com. Patel’s core expertise resides in buying effective digital media, then converting it into a positive ROI on e-commerce transactions. Yatin Patel has been recognized for 2019 Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business award. Patel has a Master’s Degrees in Industrial Design ((National Institute of Design- India), a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering (Gujarat University-India) and ongoing Executive MBA from Harvard Business School. Patel is an active and philanthropic member of the Orlando community, and has served as a board member with: OnePULSE Foundation, The Dr. Phillip Performing Art Center, University Club of Orlando, and the Orlando Film Festival. He is an active member of PathNorth (Washington DC based Leadership Organization), YPO (Young President Organization) & CEO. Patel is a nationally recognized photographer, currently exhibiting his collection entitled SUTRA (yatinpatel.com). Lending his artistic talents to philanthropic causes, he has hosted art gallery fundraising events both locally and nationally. Patel is married to LeAnn Patel ( LeAnnPerman.com) and has 2 children, Aemy (18) and Dave (13). In his leisure he enjoys fly fishing around the world.
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About Reservations.com: Our Mission is to bring the human-touch back into the world of travel. With a vision to provide personalized experiential travel planning
Alex Broeker
CEO & Founder of UNION
Alex Broeker is the CEO & Founder at UNION POS.
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About Samplr Technologies, TabbedOut, TabbedOut, UNION: UNION, a hospitality engagement platform that leverages data to deliver exceptional experiences for consumers, venues, and brands they enjoy
Joe Fraiman
Co-Founder and President of Lyric
Joe is a Founder & President of Lyric. He is a professional nomad, adventure traveler, a certified BBQ judge, and interior design junkie. Over the last 15 years he’s lived in countless apartments across the country — and he obsessively designed each one. Along the way he hiked 1000 miles on the Appalachian Trail, crossed Asia on the Trans-Siberian Railway, and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. Joe has worked in construction in Alaska, developed top-secret defense software in San Diego, and raised money for the world’s largest hedge fund in Connecticut. He studied computer science and philosophy at Dartmouth College and NYU.
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About Lyric: Lyric is a tech and data-powered real estate and lifestyle hospitality company for the modern business traveler.
Andrew Kitchell
CEO & Co-Founder of Lyric
Andrew Kitchell is a Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Lyric and Wheelhouse. He is a former CEO & Founder at Beyond Pricing and Founder, Product Design at 30 Words. Mr. Kitchell studied at Duke University.
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About Lyric, Wheelhouse: Lyric is a tech and data-powered real estate and lifestyle hospitality company for the modern business traveler.
Jonathan Keidan
Founder & Managing Partner of Torch Capital
Jonathan is the Founder of Torch Capital. A long time entrepreneur and investor, he has spent his career at the intersection of the media, technology and entertainment industries. He is the Co-Founder of digital media company InsideHook and has spent a decade as an active early stage investor and advisor to a number of New York and LA’s top start-ups.
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About The Council on Foreign Relations, Torch Capital: Torch Capital is an early-stage consumer-focused venture capital firm.
Pete Ginsberg
Founder & CEO of Onaroll
Peter Ginsberg is the Founder and the Chief Executive Officer at Onaroll.
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About Onaroll: Onaroll is an employee rewards app that incentivizes productivity and longevity.
Rattan Chadha
Founder & Chairman of CitizenM
Rattan is the founder and CEO of citizenM, a transformational hotel concept. He arrived in Holland from India in the early 70’s, an entrepreneur with a Business Management Degree, he founded fashion company Mexx (1986, sold 2004). In 2000, Rattan was knighted by the Queen of the Netherlands as a Ridder for his entrepreneurial success. In 2004 he won the Grand Seigneur Award of the Netherlands, the highest award for excellence in branding and lifestyle marketing and in 2008 awarded the China Trader Award for his lifetime achievements developing trade relations between China and the Netherlands.
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About CitizenM, KRC Capital: citizenM is a new breed of hotel now in Amsterdam, Glasgow and London, and coming soon to New York, Paris.
Jim Kaplan
Founder, Managing Partner of Chasella
Jim Kaplan is the co-founder of CHASELLA, a private equity firm that specializes in real estate investment and development, and in supporting new products and services across a variety of industries that range from smart-home technologies to financial services and consumer retail. He is an advisor to a number of early-stage firms, and works closely with their teams to help maximize efficiency and growth. In addition, he is a dedicated member of the Board of Advisors to Kids Need More, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that helps children and families afflicted with cancer.
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About Bevi, Chasella, Thnks: A results oriented private equity and early stage investment firm that is predicated on value-creation through innovation and trust.
Carey Cooper
Co-Founder & CEO of L3 Hospitality Group
Carey is our CEO Extraordinaire. His early success as president of Redi Cut Foods, the largest regional processor of vegetables, made him a supply chain expert. His entrepreneurial spirit has only grown since then and nothing has brought him as much professional joy as becoming a restaurateur. We refer to him as Mr. Positive. He’s the go-to guy in his community and at work… not to mention he can tell you the origin of an avocado by the way it spins on the table.
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About L3 Hospitality Group: L3 Hospitality Group is a restaurant operating company.
Nathan Cooper
Co-Founder & Partner of L3 Hospitality Group
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About L3 Hospitality Group: L3 Hospitality Group is a restaurant operating company.
Jess Levin Conroy
Founder & CEO of Carats & Cake
Jess Conroy is the Founder and CEO of Carats & Cake, the leading provider of digital solutions for sales and marketing in the events industry. Prior to founding Carats & Cake Jess worked as an Associate at Burch Creative Capital where she helped manage investments and brand development for the firm’s portfolio. Jess is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania with degrees in Economics and Spanish and earned her MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business.
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About Carats & Cake: Carats & Cake is the first integrated marketing and sales solution for venues and property groups
Kirk Posmantur
Founder & CEO of Axcess Worldwide
Kirk Posmantur is the Chairman & Founder of Axcess Worldwide, a partnership development company that creates inspired ideas and connects extraordinary brands and people. With over 20 years of experience generating hundreds of millions of dollars in contracted revenue for many of the world’s top brands in the luxury and lifestyle, consumer mass, and hospitality and travel sectors, Kirk is widely recognized as the pioneer and innovator of partnership development. Axcess currently represents over 50 of the world’s leading brands. Kirk is greatly involved in multiple charities and has served as the Chairman of the Board for the Atlanta chapter of After School All-Stars since 2000, raising over $20 million for his charity’s chapter. Kirk earned his undergraduate degree at the William F. Harrah College of Hotel Management at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
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About 25Madison, Axcess Worldwide: Axcess Worldwide are Axcess Worldwide, and Axcess Worldwide are the world’s first partnership development company.
Chris Herndon
Co-Founder of The Guild
Chris Herndon is the Co-Founder of The Guild. He is a serial entrepreneur and amateur investor that is jamming on some hare-brained schemes that he hopes will someday dent the universe. Chris was the Co-Founder of Apartment List and served as President from 2011 to 2015. Prior to Apartment List, Chris spent several years as an investor at GTCR Golder Rauner and Goldman Sachs. He is a co-founder of the 40 Acres Group, an Austin-based real estate investment firm. He is also a co-founder of Philanthropedia, an online resource for strategic donors that was acquired by Guidestar in 2011. Chris has an MBA from Stanford University and a bachelors from the University of Texas at Austin. Hook ’em Horns!
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About Homestead Partners, The Guild: The Guild is a hospitality company that offers full-building managements and turns upscale apartments into tech-enabled hotel suites.
Brian Carrico
Co Founder, CEO of The Guild
Brian Carrico is the Co-Founder of Chief Executive Officer of The Guild and a Partner at Alexa Management.
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About Alexa Management, The Guild: The Guild is a hospitality company that offers full-building managements and turns upscale apartments into tech-enabled hotel suites.
Rob Wilder
Co-Founder/ViceChair/Chief Strategy Officer of Think Food Group
Rob Wilder is co-founder with José Andrés of ThinkFoodGroup (TFG), the innovative management company responsible for renowned dining concepts in Washington, DC, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami and Puerto Rico including Jaleo, Zaytinya, Oyamel, minibar by José Andrés, Beefsteak, The Bazaar by José Andrés at the SLS Hotels, China Poblano at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, and Mi Casa at the Ritz Carlton Reserve in Dorado Beach. TFG also handles José’s additional creative endeavors encompassing cookbooks, food products, television programming, education, concept consulting, and new restaurant projects. Recently Rob also founded the investment group “FoodTech Angels” to grow innovative early-stage companies that have the potential to disrupt our food systems. As part of his effort to support promising entrepreneurs Rob serves as a Mentor at the Halcyon Incubator and 1776.
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About FoodTech Angels, Halcyon Incubator, Think Food Group, WineGame, World Central Kitchen: ThinkFoodGroup, LLC is company that provides catering services and publishes cookbooks.
Marcela Sapone
CEO & Co-Founder of Hello Alfred
In 2014, the founders of Hello Alfred won the TechCrunch Disrupt SF pitch competition–becoming the first all-female founder team to do so–after wowing judges with its vision of an on-demand concierge service that connects customers with a professionally trained home manager to complete workaday household errands like cleaning, laundry, and pet care.
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About Hello Alfred: Alfred is the largest and most advanced residential management platform.
Jessica Beck
COO & Co-Founder of Hello Alfred
Jessica Beck is a COO & Co-Founder at Hello Alfred.
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About Hello Alfred: Alfred is the largest and most advanced residential management platform.
John S. Shriber
Co- Founder & CEO of Roomster
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About Roomster: The leading multi platform roommate matching & shared housing application. IOS, Android & fully responsive design
Aaron Sherman
Co-Founder & CEO of SevenFifty
Aaron Sherman is a co-founder and the Chief Executive Officer of SevenFifty. With over a decade in the industry and extensive experience as a sommelier, beverage manager and industry consultant, Sherman brings a breadth of knowledge and passion to his position. As CEO of SevenFifty, Sherman plays the executive lead and oversees overall company vision and growth. Prior to co-founding SevenFifty, Sherman worked as a sommelier and beverage manager for New York restaurants WD-50 and L’Artusi. He was also the beverage director at the SLS Hotel in Los Angeles, where he was responsible for running the beverage programs of their multi-outlet venue, including Jose Andres’ restaurant The Bazaar. Sherman holds a Diploma of Wine and Spirits from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust and is a Certified Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers.
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About SevenFifty: SevenFifty helps importers, producers, distributors, and retail buyers connect with each other and do business in a modern world.
Neal Parikh
CTO, Co-Founder of SevenFifty
Neal Parikh is a co-founder and the Chief Technology Officer of SevenFifty.With experience as a data scientist, seasoned technologist, and cocktail enthusiast, Parikh brings a diverse range of talents to the SevenFifty team. As CTO of SevenFifty, Parikh oversees the company’s engineering team, platform design and product development. When Parikh joined SevenFifty, he led a nimble team of engineers to create a revolutionary digital platform to facilitate the wholesale buying and selling of wines and spirits. Today, SevenFifty’s robust, searchable database stands as the digital backbone of the alcohol industry. Prior to co-founding SevenFifty, Parikh worked as a senior quantitative analyst on Wall Street, and is an expert in machine learning, convex optimization, statistics, big data systems and artificial intelligence.
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About SevenFifty: SevenFifty helps importers, producers, distributors, and retail buyers connect with each other and do business in a modern world.
Gianfranco Verga
Co-Founder and President of SevenFifty
Gianfranco Verga is a co-founder and the Chief Operating Officer of SevenFifty. With extensive experience in multiple areas of the beverage industry, Verga is widely considered to be a leading expert in the field. As COO of SevenFifty, Verga oversees the company’s day-to-day operations, including the external client management of over 700 distributors and 30,000 buyers, as well as the internal management of SevenFifty’s sales and customer care teams. Prior to co-founding SevenFifty in 2012, Verga managed operations and development at Tippling Bros, a beverage consulting firm that curates spirits portfolios for buyers and distributors. Before joining Tippling Bros, Verga worked as the Beverage Director and General Manager of Louis 649, building one of the most established beverage programs in New York City. Prior to his time at Louis 649, Verga worked as a Marketing Associate at Domaine Select Wine Estates. Verga is B.A.R. Smarts certified by the Beverage Alcohol Resource and has been featured in numerous food and beverage publications.
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About SevenFifty: SevenFifty helps importers, producers, distributors, and retail buyers connect with each other and do business in a modern world.
Eric Ethans
Co-Founder of Suja Life
Eric Ethans is the Co-Founder at Suja Juice.
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About Suja Life: Suja is a producer of cold-pressed juices that help people transform their lives through conscious nutrition.
Arram Sabeti
Founder & Chairman of the Board of ZeroCater
Arram Sabeti is the founder of ZeroCater, a startup that makes it easy for companies to feed their employees. Arram became obsessed with tech startups when he was 20 years old and as an experiment, he decided to totally commit to the goal of building a successful technology company.
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About ZeroCater: ZeroCater is a provider of office meals and snacks, bringing employees together to build culture and foster community.
Jon Staff
Founder & CEO of Getaway
Founder at Getaway
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About Favecast, Getaway: Getaway is a wellness hospitality company that offers cabin rentals in natural landscapes.
Elia Wallen
Founder & CEO of Hotel Engine
Elia Wallen is the founder & CEO of Hotel Engine.
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About Hotel Engine: Hotel Engine connects companies, travelers, and hotel partners to an exclusive membership platform.
Marc Oshima
Co-Founder & Chief Marketing Officer of AeroFarms
Marc co-founded AeroFarms with the intention of making healthy, delicious food more accessible to the urban communities around the world. Marc has an extensive marketing background in retail, brand management, and media with leading companies including Toys R Us, L’Oreal, and Turner Broadcasting. He headed up marketing for The Food Emporium, a supermarket chain in the Northeast and for Citarella gourmet markets, that has been recognized as one of the Top 50 Specialty Food Retailers in the United States. An established leader in marketing, he has developed award-winning marketing campaigns that have been recognized by AdWeek, AdAge, Creativity, AICP, and Webby. Marc is a member of the United Fresh Marketing Merchandising Council and the Marketing Advisory Committee of the Food Bank for NYC. He has a B.A. from Columbia College and a M.B.A. from Columbia Business School.
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About AeroFarms: AeroFarms is an urban cleantech company that provides aeroponic growing systems to produce plants without sun or soil.
David Rosenberg
Co-Founder & CEO of AeroFarms
David, a serial entrepreneur, co-founded and leads AeroFarms, a clean-technology company that builds and operates advanced vertical farms in urban environments. AeroFarms has been recognized as a Circular Economy 100 company, won the World Technology Award for most impactful Environmental Company, was voted Most Innovative Company at the Future of Agriculture conference, the Best Growth Company to invest in at the Wall Street Journal’s ECO:nomics conference, and was a finalist for The Circular Awards of The World Economic Forum. David is also the founder of Hycrete, Inc., a nanotechnology cleantech company.
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About AeroFarms: AeroFarms is an urban cleantech company that provides aeroponic growing systems to produce plants without sun or soil.
Amanda Szabo
Founder & CEO of ResortPass
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About ResortPass: ResortPass is an online booking platform for access to resorts and hotels for the pool, spa, fitness, and amenities.
Vish Bhatia
Co-Founder & President of Hotelsoft
Vish has over 18 years of experience in revenue management and hospitality investments sectors. Prior to founding Hotelsoft Inc., Vish was the Vice President of Revenue Optimization at Aston Hotels & Resorts overseeing revenue management and distribution function for 29 hotels, resorts and condominium collection properties, with over 4,500 rooms in Hawaii and mainland USA. Previously, he held leadership positions in revenue management and distribution at Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, a 30 hotel luxury chain in Asia, Morgan’s Hotel Group, Miami and The Plaza Hotel, New York, a Fairmont managed hotel. He was also instrumental in raising a $585 million fund at Everstone Capital, a $1.7 billion private equity and real estate fund. Vish served on the Revenue Management Advisory Board of HSMAI and was a member of the Chief Revenue Officer roundtable from 2011-2013. Vish holds a Masters degree from Cornell-ESSEC university and enjoys painting and golf in his spare time.
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About Alpha Revenue Strategies, Hotelsoft, The New Amsterdam Group: Software solutions and services to independent and chain scale hotels.
Vinay Menda
Co-Founder of Blank Street
Vinay Menda is the Co-Founder at Blank Street.
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About Blank Street, Reshape, VGO Ventures: Coffee, closer to you.
Issam Freiha
Co-Founder of Blank Street
Issam Freiha is the Co-Founder at Blank Street.
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About Blank Street, Reshape: Coffee, closer to you.
Sumer Johal
Founder & CEO of Agralogics
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About Agralogics: Agralogics offers SaaS-based applications and services that provide geo-referenced big data analytics for the hospitality industry.
David Barber
Founder & Managing Partner of Almanac Insights
David is the Founder and Managing Partner of Almanac Insights. He is also a co-owner of Blue Hill–a working farm, restaurant, and consulting company supporting agriculture that positively contributes to the world’s food system. The 138-acre farm in Great Barrington, Massachusetts has been in the Barber family for four generations. Blue Hill restaurant has locations in Greenwich Village and Pocantico Hills, New York. David is a founding partner of the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Westchester County. This unique nonprofit advances community and ecologically based food production-demonstrating alternative ways to farm and eat. Stone Barns Center works in association with Blue Hill’s second restaurant located on the campus. Blue Hill (NYC) received the James Beard Outstanding Restaurant Award in 2013. Blue Hill at Stone Barns received the same honor in 2015 and was added to the San Pellegrino World 50 list. David is an early stage investor in the food and hospitality space through Almanac Investments and advisor to S2G Ventures and Acre Investments. He serves on the Board of BlueCart Corp, and is a Trustee for Stone Barns Center, Caramoor Center for the Arts and the Collegiate School in New York City.
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About Almanac Insights, Blue Hill: Almanac Insights is a food and tech venture fund seeking companies making a positive, transformative impact on food systems.
Premtim Gjonbalic
Founder of Butler Hospitality
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About Butler Hospitality: Butler Hospitality is an on-demand platform for room service and amenities.
Benoit Lam
Founder & Co-CEO of UPPERKEY
Entrepreneur for 10 Years | Investing in Talent | Life Enthusiast Passionate about human connections, real estate and hospitality. Key Highlights of UpperKey: 1. A fast-growing PropTech iRenting company disrupting the traditional hospitality industry one rental at a time. 2. Established business run by the founding owners, supported by a multi-disciplinary international management team, 3. A highly scalable platform requiring only minimal incremental investment to expand in new cities around the globe.
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About UPPERKEY: Hospitality Tech Company
Sascha Mornell
Co-Founder & CEO of GetMyBoat
Sascha Mornell is a serial entrepreneur. He is the Co-Founder of GetMyBoat, ZigAir, and Phacil. Previously, he worked for register.com, where he served as SVP of Sales & Marketing. Mr. Mornell also worked at the National Basketball Association and Dreyer’s, Japan in Tokyo. Mr. Mornell has served as an advisor/investor to several small businesses, including Osmio (acquired by Aramark), Markmonitor, AW Media and others. Mr. Mornell graduated cum laude from UC Berkeley and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
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About GetMyBoat, SaraGEO, ZigAir: GetMyBoat is the marketplace for boat rentals, yacht charters, and on-the-water experiences.
Raf Collado
Co-Founder of GetMyBoat
Rafael Collado is a serial entrepreneur. He is the Co-Founder of GetMyBoat, ZigAir, and Phacil. Mr. Collado has founded, built, managed and sold three companies, including: Inabox, a web-based software company dedicated to web site creation tools acquired by register.com in 2000, BERN Associates, Inc., a company that provided Internet consulting, network services and content development tools to telephone companies that was acquired by Prime Cellular in 1996, and Sigma Research, a software company acquired by FastComm Communications in 1993. Mr. Collado also founded and was CEO of Protocom Devices, which he took public in 1985.Mr. Collado was an Associate Professor in the Electrical Engineering Department of The Cooper Union Institute in New York, and he attended the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn where he majored in Electrical Engineering.
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About GetMyBoat, Protocom Aviation, SaraGEO, ZigAir: GetMyBoat is the marketplace for boat rentals, yacht charters, and on-the-water experiences.
Nelson Nigel
Founder and CEO of Kidmoto Technologies LLC
Nelson Nigel is a serial immigrant entrepreneur. His family emigrated from Guyana to Corona, Queens NYC when he was young. In 2016 He founded Kidmoto Technologies, The Kidmoto app connects parents to a network of professionally trained drivers who provide secured child car seats for safe airport transportation.
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About Kidmoto Technologies LLC: Mobile app connecting families with young children seeking car seat taxi transportation with drivers providing installed child seats.
Jonathan Murray
Co-Founder & CEO of MyVR
Co-Founder/CEO of MyVR. Co-Founder/CEO of Lift Media (acquired). Former GE manager and Six Sigma guru. Stanford MBA.
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About MyVR: MyVR, a Guesty company, is a cloud-based, multi-channel management platform for vacation rental businesses.
Ivan Thai
Co-Founder, Lead Product & Software Developer of Voyajoy
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About Voyajoy: AI Powered Platform for Short Term Rentals
Dmitry Koltunov
Co-Founder & CTO of ALICE
Dmitry Koltunov is a Co-Founder and CTO at ALICE. He is also Founding Venture Partner at NextGen Venture Partners and Founder and CEO at Collective Catalyst. Mr. Koltunov is a former CTO at Novus Partners and Software Architect/Developer at Morgan Stanley. Dmitry received a BA in Economics and a BSE in Computer Science at the University of Pennsylvania.
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About ALICE, Collective Catalyst, Startup Leadership Program: ALICE connects every department of a hotel with one platform for all staff communication and guest requests.
Justin Effron
Co-Founder & CEO of ALICE
Justin Effron is the Co-Founder and of ALICE.
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About ALICE: ALICE connects every department of a hotel with one platform for all staff communication and guest requests.
Aleksey Kernes
Co-Founder of Hooch
Aleksey Kernes is the Co-Founder in Hooch.
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About Hooch: HOOCH is the free app that rewards you up to 10% back plus exclusive perks when you travel, shop or dine with global partners.
Harrison Gordon
Co-Founder and CEO of Blueberry Pediatrics
Harrison Gordon graduated from Northwestern University and worked for Microsoft as a program manager and Google as a product manager. With a family full of doctors and both parents practicing physicians based in Florida, Harrison wanted to use his background and expertise to create a company that uses online services to create a better life for everyone. In his spare time, Harrison enjoys cooking, hiking, and playing with his 1-year-old rescue dog Riley.
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About Blueberry Pediatrics: Blueberry Pediatrics provides parents with live access to top pediatricians for a flat monthly rate.
Sean Miller
Co-Founder and CTO of Blueberry Pediatrics
Sean Miller graduated from Duke University and post-graduation worked for Google for over three years as a software engineer lead. Originally from Philadelphia, Sean was excited to use his expertise in software and systems development to build Blueberry Pediatrics.
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About Blueberry Pediatrics: Blueberry Pediatrics provides parents with live access to top pediatricians for a flat monthly rate.
John Parlet
Owner, Founder of John’s Incredible Pizza Company
John Parlet, began his career in the pizza business with the opening of a simple pizza parlor with a couple of arcade games. With the success of that location, John had an incredible idea: He wanted to create a totally unique experience that combined a made-from-scratch all you can eat buffet with rides, games and attractions! And the kicker.he wanted it all under one roof! So in 1997, John opened the first John’s Incredible Pizza Company in Victorville, California with a 16,000 square foot location. This was soon followed by the opening of nine additional locations that grew bigger and even more incredible! With John’s commitment to serving “good food with a good attitude”, the average John’s is now over 50,000 square feet!
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About John’s Incredible Pizza Company: John’s Incredible Pizza is a chain of restaurants offering pizza and other food items, big screen TVs, themed rooms, games and rides.
Michael Rosenbaum
Founder & Executive Chairman of Arena Analytics
Mike is responsible for Catalyst IT Services’ overall strategy and direction, ensuring that Catalyst has the best team on the planet and knocks the ball out of the park every time it partners with a client. Prior to starting Catalyst IT Services, Mike received an Irving R. Kaufman Fellowship to build the first version of what is now the company’s analytics engine for talent selection and team assembly. He also worked with Harvard University as a John M. Olin Fellow, with the White House on technology and telecommunications and urban and rural issues, the U.S. Department of State and Coopers & Lybrand. Mike serves as a trustee of the Baltimore Museum of Art and of Bryn Mawr School. He is a past board member of the Family Tree and the Leadership Council of the Open Society Institute, is a former chair of Maryland IT PAC and a former president of the Harvard Club of Maryland and has been named one of the Baltimore Business Journal’s 40 under 40 emerging leaders. Mike has a JD from Harvard Law School cum laude, a Master of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard College magna cum laude.
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About Arena Analytics: Arena Analytics applies predictive analytics and machine learning to talent acquisition challenges.
Sean Breuner
Founder & CEO of AvantStay
Serial entrepreneur, advisor and angel investor. Casper, Latch, Blast, AwayCo, Neighborly, Hippo Insurance, OpenToken, OTG Organics, Text IQ, Starcity, BarBend, Wandering Bear, Abstract VC, Mesh, Raden, OneLog
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About AvantStay: AvantStay is a technology-first hospitality brand for experiential group travel.
Reuben Doetsch
Co-Founder of AvantStay
Reuben Doetsch is the co-founder of AvantStay.
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About AvantStay: AvantStay is a technology-first hospitality brand for experiential group travel.
Jonathan Kaplan
Founder & CEO of THE MELT
Jonathan Kaplan, also known as Jon, is the Founder of THE MELT and serves as its Chairman of the Board. Mr. Kaplan serves as a Director of Euclid Analytics, Inc.
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About THE MELT: THE MELT is an American restaurant serving made-to-order grilled cheese sandwiches.
Travis Grillo
Co-Founder and CEO of Grillo’s Pickles
Travis Grillo is the CEO and founder of Grillo’s Pickles, an all-natural pickle company based in Cambridge, MA. He started Grillo’s in 2008 by taking the 100 year old family pickle recipe and packing jars to sell out of the trunk of his car. In just five short years, Travis has grown the business from a pickle cart in Boston Common to a fully distributed pickled food company that is stocked in over 50 whole foods stores and its own specialty retail space in Cambridge, MA.
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About Grillo’s Pickles: Grillo’s Pickles is a pickle store.
Stefania Mallett
Co-Founder & CEO of ezCater
Stefania has spent over 25 years building and growing technology-enabled companies that solve real business problems. Stefania co-founded and successfully sold InSite Marketing Technology (now NASDAQ: KANA). Her tenure at National Logistics Management (a broker for $225M in transportation services) brought NLM to profitability for the first time in 4 years. At IntraNet (now NASDAQ:TSAI), Stefania revamped the firm and vaulted it to #1 in its market, a position it has maintained for 15+ years. At a dozen companies, she has held general management, marketing, sales, product management, support, and technical positions. Stefania also operates as a Director and advisor to many for-profit and non-profit firms. She has a BS and an MS from MIT.
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About ezCater: EzCater is an online catering marketplace that allows individuals to order food from local caterers.
Briscoe Rodgers
Co-Founder & President of ezCater
Briscoe is a 5x entrepreneur. He founded, built, and successfully sold two software firms, Azuris Software and Lumis Studios. Briscoe co-founded Buzzpad to create real-time collaboration tools for corporate settings. In 2004, he founded PreferredTime, where he shifted his focus to collaboration between healthcare and pharma. ezCater is an off-shoot of that. Briscoe studied business and computer science at Carnegie Mellon University. And, yes, along the way, he earned a few credits in IMDb.
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About ezCater: EzCater is an online catering marketplace that allows individuals to order food from local caterers.
Jeff Hong
Co-Founder, VP Partnerships & Strategic Initiatives of Bite
Jeff Hong is the Co-Founder, VP Partnerships & Strategic Initiatives at Bite .
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About Bite: The most powerful software for guest experience in restaurants.
Garrett Lang
Founder and President of PlateRate
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About PlateRate: We help people find better food than anyone else!
Jeff Mann
Founder and Principal of Branded Hospitality Ventures
Jeff Mann is the founder and principal of Branded Hospitality Ventures. He is also the president and executive editor of Mann Publications, launched Mann Report in the spring of 1998. Over the years, the success of both these magazines has created room for the inclusion of our residential and building management titles, Mann Report Residential and Mann Report Management, respectively.
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About Branded Hospitality Ventures, Mann Publications: Branded Hospitality Ventures is a micro venture fund focused on hospitality technology, emerging concepts and unique F&B.
Roman Pedan
Founder and CEO of Kasa Living
Roman Pedan is the Founder & CEO of Kasa Living.
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About Kasa Living: Kasa Living is a hospitality company that offers flexible accommodations for business and leisure travelers.
Joel Montaniel
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of SevenRooms
Joel Montaniel is the CEO and Co-Founder of SevenRooms, a Front-of-House (FOH) and Client Relationship Management (CRM) platform for the hospitality, dining and nightlife industry. Founded in 2011 in New York, SevenRooms provides operators with intelligent FOH capabilities, multi-channel inventory distribution, an open API platform and powerful CRM to track and capture F&B data. Prior to founding SevenRooms, Montaniel served as Chief of Staff at LivePerson (NASDAQ: LPSN), reporting directly to the CEO and leading strategic, operational and cultural initiatives for the company. Montaniel started his career at Credit Suisse working on the financing and securitization of commercial mortgages totaling over $15bn for the Real Estate Finance and Securitization Group. He received his B.A. (Hons) from Georgetown University.
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About SevenRooms: SevenRooms is a guest experience and retention platform for the hospitality industry.
Allison Page
Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer of SevenRooms
Allison Page is the head of product and co-founder of SevenRooms, where she spearheads product and design across all departments. Prior to founding SevenRooms, Page was an associate at Hodes Weill & Associates. She started her career at Credit Suisse within the real estate, finance and securitization group. She received her B.S. in finance and real estate from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
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About SevenRooms: SevenRooms is a guest experience and retention platform for the hospitality industry.
Ippei Takahashi
President & CEO – Founder of RideGuru
Ippei has worked in web development and sales roles for over 15 years in the high-tech industry. Since founding Unleashed, LLC in 2007, he has designed products, developed strategy for the company, and led various initiatives as a project manager. As a passionate entrepreneur, he continues to build the vision for Unleashed, LLC and its future products.
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About RideGuru: RideGuru is the trusted resource, tool, and community for everyone engaged in ridehails, rideshares, limos, and taxis.
Nick Slavin
President and Co-Founder of Curacity
Nick Slavin, Co-Founder and President has a background in real estate and hospitality private equity. Curacity launched in 2015 and is headquartered in Stanford, CT and New York City.
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About Curacity: Curacity is a data analytics company focused on the travel sector.
Shazi Visram
Founder of Happy Family
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About Happy Family: Happy Family is committed to providing the best possible start for Baby’s palate and her growing body.
Poorvi Patodia
Founder & CEO of Biena Snacks
Poorvi Patodia is the Founder & CEO at Biena Snacks.
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About Biena Snacks: Biena Snacks is a snack food company that specializes in deliciously crunchy and healthy plant-based snacks.
Jeff Nobbs
Founder of Kitava
Jeff Nobbs is the Founder & CEO at Zero Acre Farms.
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About Kitava, Rakuten Rewards, Zero Acre Farms: San Francisco’s healthiest restaurant.
Paul Scialla
Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Delos
Paul Scialla After 18 years on Wall Street, including 10 at Goldman Sachs as a Partner, Paul Scialla’s interest in sustainability and altruistic capitalism led him to found Delos, which is merging the world’s largest asset class – real estate – with the world’s fastest growing industry – wellness. Since the company’s inception, Paul has become a leading voice in the sustainability movement, serving as a keynote speaker at prominent green building, real estate, and technology forums and conferences around the world. Paul is also the Founder of the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI), which administers the WELL Building Standard® globally to improve human health and wellbeing through the built environment, a member of the Board of Directors for the Chopra Foundation, and a founding board member of the JUST Capital Foundation. Paul graduated from New York University with a degree in finance, and he currently resides in New York City.
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About Delos: Delos is a real estate company that focuses on tech, health, design and science to improve human health in the built environment.
Ronald M. Shaich
Founder of Cava Group
Thirty years ago, Ron Shaich set out to change the world by changing the way America eats. By founding not one, but two, successful restaurant concepts (Au Bon Pain and Panera Bread), Shaich shook up the industry by offering an antithesis to fast food—handmade, artisan food served in warm and welcoming environments by people you can trust. Today, Panera Bread serves over eight million people each week, employs over 80,000 associates and is a leader in the restaurant space. The Company is ranked number five in the foodservice category on Fortune’s “World’s Most Admired Companies” list. Today, Shaich directs a range of innovation and strategic initiatives for Panera Bread as the Company’s Chairman and CEO. Having made his name as an entrepreneur who grew his business into a national chain of 1,800 bakery-cafes in 40 states and Canada, Shaich remains focused on building a company of quality over the long term. Shaich was awarded the 2011 MUFSO Pioneer Award for being one of the most significant contributors to the history of the foodservice industry. Past winners have included Colonel Harland Sanders, Ray Kroc, Norman Brinker and J. Willard Marriott, Sr. He was awarded IFMA’s Gold Plate Award for being the outstanding leader in the industry in 2005. As well, he has twice received the Nation’s Restaurant News Golden Chain Award, which is given to figures who exemplify success and leadership in food service. Shaich has also been a national finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year. The Company and Shaich’s innovative management style have been featured in Fortune, Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, The Economist, TIME, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, on NBC Nightly News, CBS Evening News and ABC World News Tonight and in several books. As well, Shaich frequently represents Panera Bread on CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN and Fox News Channel. Shaich serves as President of the Panera Bread Foundation and spearheaded the Panera Cares initiative, through which the Foundation creates nonprofit community cafes aimed at addressing issues related to food insecurity. He is a member of the Boards of Directors of the Lown Cardiovascular Research Foundation and the Massachusetts Financial Literacy Trust Fund. Shaich formerly served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Clark University and on the Board of the Rashi School. He is also a co-founder of No Labels, an organization concerned with political problem solving. Shaich received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Clark University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School. He resides in Brookline, MA with his wife, Nancy, and children, Michael and Emma.
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About Cava Group, Tatte Bakery & Cafe: Cava Group is a Mediterranean culinary brand that offers chef-crafted dips and spreads.
Theodore Xenohristos
Founder and Chief Concept Officer of Cava Group
Ted Xenohristos is the Chief Concept Officer and Co-Founder of Cava Group.
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About Cava Group: Cava Group is a Mediterranean culinary brand that offers chef-crafted dips and spreads.
Ali Moloo
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of myDigitalOffice
Ali Moloo is the co-founder and the Chief Executive Officer of myDigitalOffice.
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About myDigitalOffice: myDigitalOffice is an easy-to-use hoteliers data visualization, process automation, and performance management software.
Seth Berkowitz
Founder of FlyCleaners
Seth Berkowitz is the Founder and CEO at Insomnia Cookies and Co-Founder & Chairman at FlyCleaners and also the Founder of Financialese.
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About Beacon, Financialese, FlyCleaners, Insomnia Cookies: FlyCleaners offers local on-demand pickup and delivery services for dry-cleaning and laundry via a mobile application.
Ooshma Garg
Founder & CEO of Gobble
Ooshma Garg already has started two successful businesses – one that she recently sold and another that has attracted over one million dollars in venture capital. In 2008, she created Anapata, an online site that matches students looking for jobs with potential employers, mostly in the legal field. After three years of sleepless nights, bootstrapping (keeping the business self-sustained without raising any outside money) and developing Anapata, Garg sold it to the legal company LawWerx. Garg says she feels she’s finally found her niche and true passion with Gobble, a dinner delivery service that creates 10-minute 1-pan fresh dinner kits for busy professionals looking for a healthy and quick alternative to takeout. The idea came from Garg’s own struggles to eat well while running Anapata. With a demanding schedule that often left her eating in her car, Garg says she was looking for a way to get home-cooked meals at a reasonable price. She started by delivering prepared meals from local chefs and eventually progressed to hiring cooks and chefs in her own Gobble commercial kitchen. With the hiring of Executive Chef Thomas Ricci, Garg invented Gobble’s now flagship product, the 10-minute 1-pan dinner kit, providing her customers with both the speed of takeout and the satisfaction of cooking at home. The strategy paid off with Garg scoring some top investors in Silicon Valley – including LinkedIn Co-founder Reid Hoffman – raising over $1.2 million in seed capital for her business.
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About Gobble, XFactor Ventures: Gobble is a weekly dinner kit delivery service that helps busy people cook dinner in just 15 minutes thanks to already prepped ingredients.
Eric Jaffe
Co-Founder and COO of ChowNow
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About ChowNow: ChowNow helps branded online ordering systems for independent restaurants through the restaurants’ own websites.
Christopher Webb
Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer of ChowNow
Chris Webb, Co-Founder & CEO of ChowNow, an online ordering system and marketing platform for restaurants.
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About ChowNow, HuffPost: ChowNow helps branded online ordering systems for independent restaurants through the restaurants’ own websites.
Junaid Shams
CEO, Co-Founder of Rooam
Junaid is a serial entrepreneur and physician. Currently, Junaid is the CEO and co-founder of Rooam, a mobile payment platform that lets guests open, view, and pay their bar tab or restaurant bill directly from their phone. Junaid has received numerous national recognitions, including Bloomberg Businessweek’s “Top 25 entrepreneurs under 25” and Under30CEO’s “Top 30 Most Influential Entrepreneurs under 30.” His start-ups have also been featured by Forbes, Bloomberg Businessweek, and Entrepreneur magazine.
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About Rooam: A contactless payment solution for the hospitality, sports, and entertainment industry
Philip Seifi
Co-Founder & CEO of Pona
Philip draws on his interdisciplinary background to align design, technology and business objectives. He also lends his time to Harvard Alumni for Global Development and has mentored entrepreneurs at UNDP, Techstars and startup events around the world.
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About Colabra, Pona: We connect families through food.
Ollie Capehorn
Co-Founder of Pona
Founder of Edulift.
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About Pona: We connect families through food.
Lea Culver
Co-Founder of Culver’s
Lea Culver Co-founded Culver Franchising System, Inc. in 1987.
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About Culver’s: Culver’s owns and operates restaurants.
Yannis Moati
Founder & CEO of Hotels By Day
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About Hotels By Day: Create protocols to enable hotels to smoothly transition towards our ‘on-demand everything’ society.
ALVIN LAM
Chief Technical Officer and Co-Founder of Locbit
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About Locbit: Locbit is a company that helps companies and people connect their devices inside their buildings.
BOIAN SPASSOV
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Locbit
Boian Spassov is the Founder and CEO of Locbit.
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About Locbit: Locbit is a company that helps companies and people connect their devices inside their buildings.
Daniel Estrada
Co-Founder and CEO of 86 Repairs
Daniel Estrada is the co-founder and CEO of 86 Repairs, the repair and maintenance management platform built for the restaurant industry. He has over 20 years of experience in technical and leadership roles, including as a software engineer, project manager, consultant to startups and Fortune 500 companies, and as the practice head in a global digital consultancy. Daniel is a first generation American, multi-citizen, and speaks 3 languages.
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About 86 Repairs: 86 Repairs is a subscription service that optimizes and manages end-to-end equipment repair and maintenance for restaurant groups.
Steven Yos
Co-Founder of WeRoomies Inc.
Steven Yos is a businessman, who run several businesses in retail and automotive, and tech startup founder. H graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Informatics and enjoy the outdoor.
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About WeRoomies Inc.: The place to find room and roommate!
