Andrew Hall

Andrew Hall

Co-founder

AGE: 26

COMPANY: Mealshare Aid Society

The Story: Even before graduating from the University of Victoria with a bachelor of commerce in 2011, Andrew Hall had been mulling over the concept for a social enterprise. Hall and his cousin Jeremy Bryant had originally thought to start a restaurant that would donate meals to feed the hungry, but with no food industry experience, they opted for a different model. Their nonprofit Mealshare partners with restaurants and charities to provide meals for those in need based on a buy one, donate one basis. Restaurants feature Mealshare items on their menus and donate money each time the item is ordered. Mealshare then distributes the cash to charities dedicated to feeding the hungry. Hall admits leaving a career-track job for a startup was a risk (he worked a year at Deloitte straight out of school), but it was one worth taking. “We kept asking ourselves: what are we going to look back on and be proud of?”

Markers of Success: Since launching in 2013, Mealshare has provided more than 500,000 meals from partner restaurants that include the Original Joe’s and Famoso Neapolitan Pizzeria chains, as well as 150 independent restaurants, to charity partners including Save the Children, KidSafe and the Breakfast Club of Canada. Hall plans to expand into the U.S. in the next three years, grow its employee base from five to 15 people and provide four million meals a year, up from 600,000 now.

PHOTO: ADAM BLASBERG