WoodSpoon
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
WoodSpoon was a New York City on-demand marketplace for homemade food, founded in January 2021 by Oren Saar, Merav Kalish Rozengarten and Lee Reshef. It connected customers with vetted local home chefs - handling insurance, delivery, food photos and marketing - so users could order authentic home-cooked meals delivered in 30 to 40 minutes across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. It raised $16 million in total, including a $14 million Series A in August 2021 led by Restaurant Brands International, with World Trade Ventures and Victor Lazarte participating.
02 / WoodSpoon FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
WoodSpoon operated in the inherently difficult on-demand homemade food sector: heavy unit economics (vetting chefs, logistics, delivery) against a model that depended on unpredictable home-cook supply, plus regulations that were still being worked out state by state. It never reached sustainable scale; Startup Nation Central records that WoodSpoon ceased to operate in January 2024, with no public shutdown announcement.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Founded
WoodSpoon is founded in January 2021 by Oren Saar, Merav Kalish Rozengarten and Lee Reshef, launching in NYC with homemade meals from local home chefs.
- Series A
In August 2021, WoodSpoon raises a $14 million Series A led by Restaurant Brands International, bringing total funding to $16 million.
- Ceased operations
WoodSpoon ceases to operate in January 2024; no public shutdown announcement is made.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
In January 2021, Oren Saar, Merav Kalish Rozengarten and Lee Reshef founded WoodSpoon in New York City, connecting customers with local home chefs.
- 02
In August 2021, the company raised a $14 million Series A led by Restaurant Brands International, bringing total funding to $16 million.
- 03
In January 2024, WoodSpoon ceased to operate; no public shutdown announcement was made.