CIT’s Virginia Founders Fund Invests in Curbside Kitchen to Connect Food Trucks with Building Owners

Platform allows building owners to integrate food trucks as an on-demand amenity, creating competitive edge in the challenge to attract and maintain tenants


Herndon, VA, Aug. 08, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) announced today that the Virginia Founders Fund (VFF) has invested in Tysons Corner, Va.-based Curbside Kitchen, developer of a technology platform that connects owners of Commercial Office and Multi-Family Residential buildings with Food Trucks. Curbside Kitchen plans to use this investment from the VFF to hire additional team members in multiple areas to scale business operations to new markets, and complete a full build-out of their technology to include a mobile app, dynamic scheduling and mobile ordering.

Just as corporations are competing for today’s top talent, property managers and building owners are increasingly looking to maximize the availability of on-site amenities and services for tenants. There’s an amenities war taking place and competition for tenants is driving office and residential buildings to increase on-site amenities without driving up capital expenditure through expensive on-site developments. Curbside Kitchens’ platform allows buildings to provide a rotating restaurant outside their buildings or inside their existing social areas as “Pop Up” restaurants without having to spend upfront capital to do so. 

“Companies need to keep their employees happy, and that includes locating their offices at an office building with amenities that appeal to today’s workforce. Our technology makes booking food trucks simple and provides diverse culinary options, so an office building owner or a residential building owner can position themselves as an appealing choice to tenants and residents,” said Amy Katz, CEO and Co-Founder of Curbside Kitchen. “There are many options for office space in today’s real estate market, and we love to help buildings stand out through the amenity of food trucks. We are very grateful for the support of CIT’s Virginia Founders Fund!”

Curbside Kitchen’s food truck management platform allows building owners to offer a full breakfast, lunch or dinner service to their tenants. The all-in-one platform provides building managers with tools for scheduling food trucks, circulating menus with tenants, entering orders, marketing their customized programs directly to the individual users in their buildings, and feedback loops on how trucks are performing at properties.

“Curbside Kitchen recognized the need for a new model of success in the corporate real estate world. For many employees, their lunchtime choices are limited to what they brought from home, fast-food establishments or office delis,” said Thomas Weithman, Managing Director of CIT GAP Funds and the Virginia Founders Fund. “Curbside’s optimization software creates custom food truck solutions, and their competitive advantage includes their path to market through a nationwide network of building owners; not to mention the explosive growth of food trucks across the U.S. We look forward to Curbside’s success!”

The Virginia Founders Fund, which launched in 2018, focuses on companies with a female, minority or veteran founder, or other entrepreneurs located in regions outside of Northern Virginia to complement investment resources and entrepreneurial support programs emerging in the regional innovation communities around the Commonwealth. CIT believes that these often-overlooked communities will play an increasingly critical role in Virginia’s technology future, and that the fund will enhance accessibility to the company growth resources available through CIT’s large and growing investor network.

For more information, please visit https://www.cit.org/.

About Curbside Kitchen
Curbside Kitchen partners with Washington DC Metro area building owners and property managers creating customized food truck solutions utilizing our proprietary optimization software. Curbside Kitchen offers a unique service to property managers and food trucks by simplifying the process of providing hungry employees with culinary diversity and a variety of food choices daily! Whether it's a one-off request for a tenant event or a reoccurring weekly request for your anchor tenants' favorite food truck, our system automates and manages the schedules for property managers and food trucks. For more information, please visit: https://www.curbsidekitchen.com/.

About the Virginia Founders Fund
Launched in 2018, the Virginia Founders Fund (VFF) is focused on providing venture capital for Virginia’s traditionally underrepresented entrepreneurs. Proceeds from the Center for Innovative Technology’s (CIT) successful GAP Funds investment program are being reinvested into the Virginia economy through the VFF, which specifically supports female, minority or veteran founders, or other entrepreneurs located in regions outside of Northern Virginia who are emerging into sectors such as software, hardware, life science, cleantech, and technology-enabled services. The VFF works with regional startup initiatives, early-stage funds, and accelerator programs across the Commonwealth to identify strategic opportunities for investment and potential co-investment to leverage additional capital. For more information, please visit https://www.cit.org/virginiafoundersfund/.

About CIT GAP Funds
CIT GAP Funds makes seed-stage equity investments in Virginia-based technology, clean tech and life science companies with a high potential for achieving rapid growth and generating significant economic return for entrepreneurs, co-investors and the Commonwealth of Virginia. CIT GAP Funds’ investments are overseen by the CIT GAP Funds Investment Advisory Board (IAB). This independent, third-party panel consists of leading regional entrepreneurs, angel and strategic investors, and venture capital firms such as New Enterprise Associates, Grotech Ventures, Valhalla Partners, Harbert Venture Partners HIG Ventures, Edison Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Intersouth Partners, SJF Ventures, Carilion Health Systems, Johnson & Johnson, General Electric, and Alpha Natural Resources. For more information, please visit www.citgapfunds.org.

About the Center for Innovative Technology (CIT)
Investing for Commonwealth Growth | CIT concentrates on the early commercialization and seed funding stages of innovation, helping innovators and tech entrepreneurs launch and grow new companies, create high paying jobs and accelerate economic growth throughout the entire state of Virginia. Founded in 1985, CIT accelerates next generation technologies and technology companies through commercialization, capital formation, market development initiatives, and expansion of broadband throughout Virginia. Our programs include | CIT GAP Funds | Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund (CRCF) | Virginia Founders Fund | Broadband/Rural Broadband | Smart Communities | Cybersecurity | Unmanned Systems | SBIR/STTR Support (Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) & Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs) | University Partnerships | Startup Company Mentoring & Engagement. CIT’s CAGE Code is 1UP71. Contact: 2214 Rock Hill Road #600, Herndon, VA 20170 | 703.689.3000 | www.cit.org

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The Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) announced today that the Virginia Founders Fund (VFF) has invested in Tysons Corner, Va.-based Curbside Kitchen, developer of a technology platform that connects owners of Commercial Office and Multi-Family Residential buildings with Food Trucks. “Curbside Kitchen recognized the need for a new model of success in the corporate real estate world. For many employees, their lunchtime choices are limited to what they brought from home, fast-food establishments or office delis,” said Thomas Weithman, Managing Director of CIT GAP Funds and the Virginia Founders Fund. “Curbside’s optimization software creates custom food truck solutions, and their competitive advantage includes their path to market through a nationwide network of building owners; not to mention the explosive growth of food trucks across the U.S. We look forward to Curbside’s success!”

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