Colorado Springs Startup Unveils New HQ and Strategic Hires

Local startup, FoodMaven made a series of announcements Friday, April 6, including the opening of the Colorado Springs' based company's new and expanded storage facility, as well as two key strategic leadership hires.

The facility in North Colorado Springs will contain more than 30 employees and provide 22,000 square feet of space, including expanding the warehouse and offices. Since launching in 2015, FoodMaven, the online marketplace and logistics company that aims to capture and reclaim revenues from lost food, has doubled in size annually, and is on track to continue its expansion beyond Colorado by the end of 2018. FoodMaven estimates the market for lost food at $200 billion annually.

CEO Patrick Bultema says the new facility was needed to meet demand.

"Limited storage had completely constrained our operations," Bultema says. "These new facilities will give us the capacity that we need to keep up with demand and grow into the future. I'm excited about the opportunity, including bringing more jobs to the Colorado Springs area."

Presently the team is hovering just above 40 people, split between the Colorado Springs facility and a Denver office. In January, the startup received $8.6 million in financing from Wal-Mart's billionaire heirs, the Walton family.

Two personnel additions include Damon Miller who will serve as VP of marketing, and Brad LaRue, FoodMaven's new director of sales. Miller will take the lead role in FoodMaven's marketing department, coming to young company after more than 15 years of marketing and product leadership experience in food service, consumer products and technology with companies including Starbucks, Unilever and Intel. Most recently, MIller was the marketing lead for two high-growth startups, including Basis, a personal health technology firm, since acquired by Intel, and Rachio, a Denver-based residential water and conservation management platform.

"I was attracted to FoodMaven's goal of eliminating food waste while bringing in a unique value proposition to the restaurant and food service industry," says Miller. "There is a great opportunity to build awareness and educate the industry on the incredible impact that FoodMaven can make."

FoodMaven hired LaRue after a 20-year tenure with Sysco. Most recently he was in a leadership position managing sales of $28 million annually to foodservice operations in Colorado.

"FoodMaven has a really compelling mission," says LaRue. "We have a unique value proposition, and being able to tell that unique story to buyers set us up for success. I'm incredibly excited to be part of the solution that really resonates with our customer base."