CookinGenie

What CookinGenie does

CookinGenie is a privately held, Ohio-based digital marketplace founded in 2019 that connects individual consumers and families with personal chefs who cook in the customer's own kitchen. The platform enables diners to browse chef profiles by location, cuisine specialty (spanning American, French, Italian, Korean, Mexican, BBQ, Cajun/Creole, Caribbean, Greek, and others), and review history, then book private chefs for occasions ranging from quiet dinners at home to meaningful celebrations. Chefs are responsible for the complete experience, from meal preparation to cleanup, positioning the service as a restaurant-style dining experience delivered in a private setting.

The company's core product is the CookinGenie Chef Marketplace, accessed via cookingenie.com, where supply is currently limited to 20+ chefs across Ohio, Florida, and Kentucky. A secondary product, CookinGenie Gift Cards, offers 30+ themed designs for holidays, celebrations, and life events, with delivery via email, SMS, or print-at-home and a one-year validity. The platform does not appear to expose a mobile app, API, or SDK, and no proprietary technology stack or AI capabilities are disclosed in the available sources. Operations are run by a team of 1–10 employees.

CookinGenie monetizes via marketplace commissions on bookings between diners and chefs. Go-to-market is direct-to-consumer through its website, with gift cards functioning as both a gifting product and a customer acquisition channel. The company has raised a single $2 million corporate round from Allison Wood Ventures in June 2022, earmarked for nationwide expansion beyond its Ohio base. No revenue figures, GMV, or contract-level pricing have been publicly disclosed, and pricing is effectively quote-based depending on chef, menu, event type, and location.

Name

CookinGenie

Legal name

CookinGenie

Website

https://cookingenie.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

CookinGenie is a privately held, Ohio-based online marketplace founded in 2019 that connects individual consumers and families with personal chefs who cook and clean up in the customer's own kitchen, operating across Ohio, Florida, and Kentucky.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Personal Chef Marketplace

NAICS

Caterers (722320), Caterers (72232)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Retail-Eating Places (5812)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Chef & In-Home Dining Services (HSACAGAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Private Culinary Experiences (Chef’s Table, Home Dining, Market-to-Meal) (THAJALAH)

Keywords

• Private chef marketplace
• Personal chef services
• In-home dining experiences
• Chef booking platform
• Culinary experience marketplace

Headquarters

HQ city

Hudson

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Marketplace Commission/Transaction Fees: CookinGenie operates as a marketplace platform connecting clients with personal chefs for events. The company earns revenue through transaction fees when clients book chefs through the platform. Chefs handle all meal preparation and cleanup, and the service emphasizes diverse menu offerings.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

CookinGenie operates an online marketplace that connects individual customers with independent personal chefs who come to the customer's home to prepare, serve, and clean up a multi-course meal. Customers browse chefs by location, cuisine specialty, and reviews on cookingenie.com, select a menu/date/time, and pay through the platform; chefs provide the labor, ingredients (per their model), and on-site service. A secondary offering lets customers purchase themed digital gift cards redeemable for any chef booking on the site.

Product overview

CookinGenie operates a marketplace platform connecting clients with personal chefs for on-demand dining experiences. The core product is the Chef Marketplace where users browse and book private chefs by location and cuisine specialty, with chefs handling all meal preparation and cleanup. This is complemented by Gift Cards, a secondary product allowing users to purchase and gift themed gift cards for private chef experiences with multiple delivery options.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CookinGenie Chef Marketplace Online marketplace where individual customers browse personal chef profiles by location, cuisine specialty, and reviews, then book a chef to come to their home and handle meal preparation and cleanup. Designed for individual consumers and families seeking private dining experiences for occasions ranging from quiet dinners to celebrations.
• CookinGenie Gift Cards Digital and printable gift cards in 30+ themed designs that let customers purchase a private chef experience as a gift. Recipients redeem the card on cookingenie.com to book any available chef, menu, date, time, and city; cards are valid for one year and can be combined with credit/debit cards if the booking exceeds the gift card value.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Thumbtack: Thumbtack is a large general services marketplace that includes private chefs among its categories. It is a broad incumbent compared with CookinGenie, offering overlapping capability as part of a much wider portfolio of home services.
• Airbnb Experiences: Airbnb Experiences is Airbnb's marketplace for bookable local activities, which includes cooking classes and chef-led dining experiences. It is a broad incumbent comparable to CookinGenie in that chefs can monetize home-based dining through its platform, though it is part of a much larger travel ecosystem.

Others

• Sur La Table: Sur La Table is a specialty cooking retailer that also runs in-person cooking classes and chef-led experiences. It is adjacent to CookinGenie through the chef-led culinary experience category, though its core business is retail rather than a private chef marketplace.

Direct peers

• The Chef & The Dish: The Chef & The Dish connects customers with professional chefs who cook in their homes, often teaching as they cook. It is a direct peer to CookinGenie in the private chef marketplace category, though its positioning skews more experiential/educational.
• Feastly: Feastly is a platform that hosts pop-up dinners and private chef experiences in home settings. It is comparable to CookinGenie as both operate chef-led, in-home dining marketplaces targeting experiential diners.
• Kenzzi: Kenzzi is a marketplace for booking private chefs and personal services for in-home experiences. It directly overlaps CookinGenie in customer segment (consumers seeking at-home chef-led dining) and marketplace business model.
• Cozymeal: Cozymeal is a marketplace that connects customers with private chefs for in-home dining experiences and cooking classes. It is a direct peer to CookinGenie, operating the same chef-booking marketplace model with broader geographic reach.
• EatWith: EatWith is a marketplace for booking chef-hosted dinners and food experiences in private homes. It is a direct peer to CookinGenie, with a comparable model of connecting diners to local chefs for special-occasion in-home meals.
• Take a Chef: Take a Chef is a global online platform that lets users book private chefs for in-home dining experiences. It mirrors CookinGenie's core offering of chef-led in-home meals and serves as one of the largest direct competitors in this category.

Emerging players

• Mudcake: Mudcake is an emerging marketplace focused on private dining and chef experiences booked online. It is comparable to CookinGenie as a smaller, emerging private chef marketplace with overlapping target customers and use cases.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CookinGenie
• Facebookfacebook.com/cookingenie
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cookingenie

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CookinGenie