Food Genius gets a new CEO
Featured on Crain’s Chicago Business
Jason Felger is taking over the top job at Food Genius from founder Justin Massa.
The Chicago technology company, which got its start in 2010, scrapes restaurant menus to provide data about ingredients, pricing and other trends to restaurant suppliers and manufacturers. Food Genius started out selling a simplified dashboard tool but now sells more sophisticated data products.
Felger, 39, who previously worked for the new ventures unit at Redbox and was co-founder of I2A Fund, also was an early investor in Food Genius and a mentor when the company was part of Excelerate Labs/Techstars Chicago accelerator.
He joined Food Genius as chief operating officer in August, overseeing sales and operations. He took over the top job in January. “I can’t think of a better fit,” he said.
Massa, 36, who becomes president and still sits on the company’s board, will remain heavily involved in sales. “It’s great,” Massa told me. “It allows me to focus on the things I’m good at and the things I really want to do.”
Food Genius raised $1 million more than a year ago and has about a dozen employees at its offices in the West Loop, just down the street from Google’s new headquarters.