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Julia Collins (entrepreneur)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Julia Collins
Born
San Francisco, California
NationalityAmerican
EducationHarvard University, Stanford University
OccupationFood tech entrepreneur
Notable workCo-Founder of Zume, Planet FWD

Julia Collins is a food tech entrepreneur who has spent her career building food companies, including Zume Pizza where she became the first Black woman to co-found a unicorn company.[1]

Early life and education

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Collins was born in San Francisco, California.[2] She earned her Bachelor’s from Harvard University in 2001[3] and her Master of Business Administration from Stanford University in 2009.[4]

Career

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Collins first started in the New York restaurant industry, co-creating a restaurant chain, Mexicue in 2010 and serving as director of Murray's Cheese in 2012.[1] In 2015, Collins helped develop Zume Pizza as a co-founder with Alex Garden.[4] Zume Pizza is a robot-powered pizza-making business that uses robotics and automation to create pizza.[5] As of 2018, the Zume Pizza is worth 2.25 billion.[5][6] Through Zume, Collins became the first Black woman to co-found a unicorn company.[1]

In 2019, Collins also founded Planet FWD,[2] a carbon management platform for consumer brands to help understand their carbon footprint.[7] Some of the major brands Planet FWD has worked with are: Clif Bar, Blue Apron, Kashi, Numi Organic Tea.[6][1] They also sell their own brand of carbon neutral snacks called Moonshot Snacks, with a focus on regenerative agricultural practices, local suppliers and recycled packaging.[7][2][8]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Gunn, Meghan; Renzulli, Kerri Anne; Potter, Ned (2023-05-10). "Disrupting climate change: 13 tech innovators helping to save the planet". Newsweek. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  2. ^ a b c Andronico, Janel (2021-05-03). "SF native Julia Collins merges food with tech to fight climate change". ABC7 Chicago. Retrieved 2023-05-25.
  3. ^ Collins, Julia. "Linkedin". Linkedin.
  4. ^ a b Mitchell, Elaine (2018-11-27). "The Pizza Bot". Stanford Magazine. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  5. ^ a b Reid, David (2018-11-02). "Robot pizza maker reportedly takes $375 million investment from SoftBank". CNBC. Retrieved 2023-05-22.
  6. ^ a b McGrath, Maggie. "Raising Money In A Tough Market: Planet FWD Founder Julia Collins Dishes On Her New Series A And Why Dire Funding Statistics Are Just Noise". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  7. ^ a b Marcellus, Sibile (2021-09-01). "'Pizza was really a proof case' for climate-friendly food, Planet FWD founder says". Yahoo!Money. Retrieved 2023-07-06.
  8. ^ Griffith, Erin (2023-01-30). "'Recession Resilient' Climate Start-Ups Shine in Tech Downturn". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-07-06.