Opsi, a new workflow app for chefs, is one of only 20 companies selected to the BETA Cohort Spring 2023. The Minnesota-based Accelerator Program is in its 10th year, and serves the state’s early stage technology startups with mentoring, networking and training over four months leading up to a BETA Showcase on April 13, 2023.
Says opsi Co-Founder Matt Luckey, “We are honored to be included alongside these incredible Minnesota tech companies. We’re excited to be part of this cohort and look forward to where opsi will be in four months after this program.”
Opsi was started by Luckey, who has a background in product design, and his childhood friend, James Passafaro, a restaurant industry veteran with over 15 years of experience as a chef. The two combined forces with the idea to centralize workflows in the kitchen and maximize efficiency in what can often be a hectic work environment. Passafaro knew the solution needed to come from someone directly involved with the problem at hand.
“Who better to help develop the technology than the people that will be using it everyday?” says Passafaro “Opsi is a kitchen management system and workflow application, made for chefs by chefs, to streamline day-to-day operations, do away with paper and document clutter, and reduce costs and labor.”
With Luckey on the design and product side, Passafaro implemented the early stages of opsi into the restaurant kitchens in which he worked as a chef. With a direct hands-on experience using the application in the setting for which it was designed, opsi developed into a kitchen tool that streamlines recipe book management, task lists, ordering and communication.
Says Passafaro, “We went through all the trial and error and growing pains with opsi, so other kitchens don’t have to. This was the importance of the application being created by chefs. We wanted to experience the pains that might arise during development and address them so opsi operates as intended, and truly increases efficiency, consistency and the overall communication in kitchens.”
During the BETA Cohort Spring 2023, Luckey and Passafaro have the opportunity to demonstrate opsi’s capabilities in front of fellow tech startups, tech enthusiasts, reporters and investors during the BETA Showcase on April 13, 2023 in Minneapolis
