Kwik Dish, a web app company offering lunches for pickup from home cooks and local restaurants, launched recently in Columbia and Jefferson City.
Rolla native AJ Shrestha recently moved back to Mid-Missouri from San Francisco, where he worked as an equity research associate at Deutsche Bank, to pursue the project. Shrestha wants to expand food offerings available in small cities with the app to more than just fast-food offerings. He anticipates the service will launch in Rolla July 24.
Shrestha's strategy is two-pronged.
He's partnered with local restaurants in Jefferson City, Columbia and Rolla to drive traffic to their stores. These restaurants anchor the product and company. Home cooks add to the types of food the company can sell.
He sees potential in college towns like Rolla, Columbia and Jefferson City because all have large populations of international students, who can make extra money by cooking good meals for their peers. This gives people an alternative to fast-food restaurants prevalent in all of these communities, he said.
"Even if you get to the local food, you're not getting a lot of diversity," Shrestha said. "We're talking about 40 percent of the world's population summarized in two restaurants."
About 10 home cooks, who make food in their spare time, were picked from 90 people who applied. Shrestha hopes to expand the number of home cooks and partner restaurants soon.
To date the company has raised $100,000 in funding, with Shrestha putting much of his own money into the project. The company has been trying spread its message through social media and flyers placed under car windshields.
Just before the launch Shrestha felt optimistic about the progress the company made. He also thinks, given the area's relatively small population, it will be a good first test for his company.
"I thought if we can make it work here, then we can make it work elsewhere," Shrestha said.