Portrait No. 001
Reneta Jenik
Founder & CEO
Foodom
Raised — $500k
Brief Description — What Makes Foodom Unique? Foodom turns your kitchen into a clinic. We connect people living with chronic conditions — diabetes, PCOS, and more — with vetted chefs who cook in-home fresh, weekly meals tailored to their needs, starting at $125 per visit. We sit at the intersection of food, healthcare, and community — making healthy eating accessible to all, while creating meaningful income for local chefs, many of whom are minorities. Food is more than medicine. It's power. Origin I lost my mother to cancer young, watching her fight with nutrition as her weapon. That never left me. Years later — immigrant, mother of four, Intel AI Director — I was battling PCOS. A nutritionist healed me through food alone. My labs transformed. I felt reborn. Guilt lingered though — for rushed dinners out, late dinner at home, and the high cost of eating out and food waste. Then I hired a chef, and everything changed at a fraction of the price. Why me? I've lived the illness, the healing, the impossible juggle. Why now? 76.4% of US adults have a chronic condition — and awareness has never been higher. I left Intel to fix our broken food system.
In her words
“Hundreds of noes. Men who assumed my husband helped build it. A food system that made me sick. None of it stopped me. Because all it takes is a few yeses — healthcare leaders who opened doors, a health plan that believed, an investor who bet on me, a woman who completely reversed her diabetes in 3 months. That's Foodom. Built against all odds, fueled by defiance, and powered by the audacity to believe that real food heals everyone — not just the privileged few.”
Chapter I
The toughest challenges you've faced as a founder.
I faced it all — woman, mother, immigrant, minority. I've been asked if my husband \"helps\" with my startup, and who would manage my family while I build. Spoiler: I have a full partner at home, an incredible team at work, and I outsource everything else — so I can focus on what matters most to me: my family and my startup. Turns out navigating all that also made me funny — I now do stand-up comedy as a hobby and outlet, and I'm writing a book called The Art of the Itch. I validated the need and willingness to pay with 100 paid orders, raised $500K to build the MVP, then hit every wall imaginable — a pandemic (we launched three days before the world shut down), inflation, bank run, wars. Raising a seed round as a first-time female immigrant founder? Nearly impossible. So I hustled differently. I convinced Anthem Blue Cross to fund medically tailored meals as a covered benefit — and we've been billing them for a year. I partnered with CookUnity, a leading national meal delivery company, to scale fast. We're shipping today. More health plans are in the pipeline. Nothing stops me. I just find a new door when the window closes.
Chapter II
Your vision.
76.4% of American adults live with a chronic condition — not because they lack willpower, but because our food system is broken. I am obsessed with fixing it, starting with the most personal place of all: the family dinner table. Today, Foodom is moving people from sick care to prevention. But my long-term vision goes further — to a world where food builds resilience, strength, and joy across generations. Imagine a world where home-cooked dinners are the norm again. Where children grow up making wise food choices naturally. Where diverse, delicious, culturally rich meals — beans, grains, fresh vegetables grown in micro-gardens — are affordable, accessible, and celebrated. Where nutrition-related chronic conditions drop below 5%. In this world, people live longer, stay active, and age alongside their loved ones with energy and purpose. Healthcare shifts from treating illness to sustaining vitality. No single pill will get us there. But a warm, nourishing meal just might.
Chapter III
The impact you want to leave behind — for your industry, your community, and the women who come next.
I want women to dare greatly—follow their dreams, speak their truth, and never let anyone silence them. I hope to open doors, pay it forward, and set an example for the next generation of women to sit at the table, raise capital, and lead in STEM and beyond. I want my daughters, and women like them, to build careers and companies free from harassment and full of possibility. My journey—from facing a painful problem to solving it creatively, then building a chef marketplace and partnering with payers—shows that many barriers can be overcome by changing our mindset. When we set an intention and believe we are worthy, we can spread our wings and fly, creating a healthier, more mindful world.