SideChef is an all-in-one home cooking platform that provides over 11,000 free interactive smart recipes with dynamic recipe guidance featuring hands-free voice commands, step-by-step photos, how-to videos, and built-in timers. Most recently, SideChef offers in-app meal planning, grocery delivery, and smart kitchen connectivity. Founded by CEO Kevin Yu in 2014, the company pioneers the next generation in cooking practices, integrating the latest technology trends with a focus on personalization, inspiration, and connectivity at every step of the meal-making process. The company continues to expand on forward-thinking partnerships from developing smart kitchen software for appliance brands including Electrolux, V-ZUG, LG, and SHARP to working with culinary-focused brands such as AmazonFresh to meet the everyday needs of the modern home cook. SideChef is available for free on iOS and Android devices. The SideChef app has won Google Play Editor’s Pick for ‘Best Apps of 2017, inspiring the creation of over 2.5 million meals/cooking sessions in home kitchens around the world. For more information, visit www.SideChef.com and follow on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.
KEVIN YU
FOUNDER & CEO SIDECHEF, SHANGHAI, CHINA AND SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA
The silicon valley native has reinvented the recipe as we know it and is on a mission to get the world cooking again
FACTS
ABOUT SIDECHEF
KEVIN YU'S backstory
Four years ago, Kevin set out to cook dinner for his girlfriend and had an extraordinary revelation–he didn’t know how to cook! Cookbooks and online recipes expected him to know how to do things like “blanch asparagus” and “mince garlic.” Long lists of cooking steps felt too overwhelming to attempt. And that was his “aha!” moment. Kevin set out to create a new recipe format for the modern home chef.
SIDECHEF's Impact
SideChef’s mission is to allow anyone to cook. The award-winning app is essentially a GPS navigation system for the cooking process, guiding cooks at all levels from start to finish, step-by-step with voice, videos, and photos, as well as connecting to their smart kitchen appliances for precise culinary results. The app features more than 11,000 smart recipes from over 300 recipe partners. SideChef also works with ingredient delivery partners such as AmazonFresh to have ingredients conveniently delivered.
What makes SIDECHEF stand out
SideChef’s diverse team is made up of members from more than seven different countries. With this diversity, Kevin believes it’s essential to understand the team members’ unique motivations, values, and abilities. He believes this is especially important in food tech where cultural representation gives the company insight into traditions and tastes around the world–something that has ultimately impacted the SideChef product.
BIOGRAPHY
Kevin is founder and CEO of SideChef, a three time TEDx speaker around vision-driven design, leading SideChef’s cooking platform design named ‘Best Apps of 2017’ by Google Play, ‘favorite cooking app’ by the New York Times, and ranked iTunes Stores’ Top 10 Food & Drinks apps in over 100 countries. Born and raised in the Silicon Valley, Kevin is also a serial tech entrepreneur, who has lead SideChef to being named ‘Best Entrepreneurial Companies’ by Entrepreneur.com (2017). SideChef features a mobile-first community platform, combining interactive step-by-step guided cooking and a smart recipe platform to bring cooking into the smart kitchens of the 21st century with partners such as: LG, Electrolux, Amazon, Sharp, Vzug. SideChef has also partnered with over 300 content groups including the Alice Waters’s Edible Schoolyard, Michelin star chefs such as Jean-Georges, and top food influencers for over 11,000 smart recipes.
Prior to joining the startup world, Kevin has cultivated more than eight years of experience at the world’s leading gaming companies, with his mainstay at Blizzard Entertainment. Previously Global Manager of Community Development at Blizzard, Kevin was responsible for reimagining the intersection of social and gaming, when social media was just beginning to emerge. His execution of a global vision for the Blizzard community directly led to the activation of more than 10 million followers on the brand’s social networking platforms. Kevin’s dedication to the cultivation of Blizzard’s global community (made up of 50MM players plus) impacted the development of the overall experiences of the Warcraft®, StarCraft® and Diablo® series. In his time at Blizzard, Kevin also hosted several BlizzCast episodes and led a number of award-winning marketing initiatives.