You’re going to adore these two delightful founders of a very cool startup that features delectable world cuisine, social inclusion, and age and cultural diversity.

Yuru Guo and Frankie Docker were Durham University students when they launched Hey! Food is Ready two years ago.

They batted back ageist remarks about their ambitious plans – Yuru was 23, Frankie 19 – and got busy building an online platform that’s thriving in the hyper-competitive world of corporate events catering.

Their USP? Home cooks from across the world – immigrants, refugees, retirees and carers among them – making food magic to liven up lunch tables and party trays usually laden with soggy sausage rolls and beige sandwiches.

What’s more, their startup is a social enterprise. The platform opens the door to carefully vetted home cooks to make some good money from their skills. And event participants often get to meet the cooks as they savour their creations.

They’ve got more than 60 cooks on their books now from 40 countries, including Iraq, Egypt, Ukraine, Lebanon, Thailand, Greece, Portugal and South Korea.

Yuru and Frankie won grants from Durham University and the Inclusive Innovation Award from the government’s innovation arm Innovate UK. That distinction included a £50,000 grant to develop inclusive innovations within their business.

They’ll be looking for investment soon in keeping with the maxim Yuru learned from her father: “Always dream big and make it happen”.

Links

• Hey! Food is Ready
• Recent writeup in Portfolio North
• Yuru on Linkedin
• Frankie on Linkedin

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