Alice Cheng started her career in the tech world as a temp in the mailroom at International Business Machines Corp.
By the time she left 13 years later, she was a high-level executive in IBM’s emerging-business division, frequently used as an example by her bosses when they explained to new hires that talented young people can rise quickly.
Alice Cheng, CEO and founder of Culinary Agents (Click Image To Enlarge)
- But when she started her new career as an entrepreneur, more than 70 meetings with investors did not lead to financial backing, she said. Now she is taking her first steps toward another meteoric rise, with $500,000 in seed funding for Culinary Agents Inc., a sort of LinkedIn for culinary professionals.
Culinary Agents Homepage (Click Image To View)
Thanks to the Food Network and a flourishing foodie culture in America, Ms. Cheng believes it’s time for chefs to have their own networking and hiring site. Today, the top chefs and most well-known restaurants use word of mouth to connect, but there are few sites beyond general sites like Craiglist for reputable, experienced culinary professionals to find the right job, she said.
RRE Ventures, Correlation Ventures and various angels apparently agree, having invested a half-million dollars in Ms. Cheng’s fledgling business.
Jim Robinson, the founder of RRE Ventures who led the seed round for Culinary Agents said.
“I’m a cheeseburger guy, myself. But there’s a lot going on in this space because of all the mid- to upper-echelon restaurateurs, who fall just below the level of the very famous. It’s a growing group, and they still use Craigslist.”
While the culinary business is a large and underserved market, RRE Ventures pulled the trigger because Ms. Cheng is a “real entrepreneur,” Mr. Robinson said.
He said.
“It’s the chutzpah and the energy. She talked some of the biggest brands into doing business with her. These are people who are marketed to all day long. To break through to them, without even a real product launched [just a beta version] really says a lot.”
The site has been live for just over a year, Ms. Cheng said, and is filled with job postings from rock-star restaurateurs like Union Square Hospitality Group, One Off Hospitality Group, Thomas Keller Restaurant Group, the French Laundry and a range of other high-end restaurants and chains.
Ms. Cheng said.
“These are the places that people really want to work after graduating from culinary school. These are the names that people want to get onto their resumes. These are top names, and they used to use Craigslist as a default.”
There are more than 10,000 users of the site, she said, roughly split between restaurants looking for new staff and culinary professionals looking for new jobs. It’s free for businesses and applicants to post profiles, and actual job listings cost $35 apiece, or $100 per month for unlimited posts.
Within the next year, the company might offer an upgraded package that would provide people who post job ads with information on how many people are clicking, what they are doing with the ads, and whether they are sharing the ads, among other things, Ms. Cheng said. The pricing of such a package is still being determined.
So why is a high-flying IBM executive getting into the food business?
Ms. Cheng said.
“I spent time in food service and retail 10 or 15 years ago. It was fun, but back then it didn’t really seem like a career type of thing. All that has changed now that the media has shed light on the business, with the cooking shows. All the drive and passion of these chefs has been exposed, and people are excited about it. They are hard workers, like artists. They are all about honing their craft. They’re a different breed.”
And fortunately for Culinary Agents, venture capitalists now consider Ms. Cheng a different breed as well.
COMMENTARY: The National Restaurant Association’s annual What’s Hot culinary forecast predicts menu trends for the coming year. For 2014, the NRA surveyed nearly 1,300 professional chefs – members of the American Culinary Federation American Culinary Federation (ACF) to find out what the hottest menu trends will be.
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Hudson Riehle, senior vice president of the National Restaurant Association’s research and knowledge group says:
“Today’s consumers are more interested than ever in what they eat and where their food comes from, and that is reflected in our menu trends research. True trends – as opposed to temporary fads – show the evolution of the wider shifts of our modern society over time, and focus on the provenance of various food and beverage items, unique aspects of how they are prepared and presented, as well as the dietary profiles of those meals.”
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Click here to see full results of What’s Hot in 2014 chef survey
Courtesy of an article dated January 15, 2014 appearing in the Wall Street Journal Venture Capital Dispatch
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