3 minute read
Startup Story

Atlanta startup Goodr leverages tech to feed more & waste less

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Jasmine Crowe believes that hunger is a logistics issue, not a scarcity issue. After learning that more than 72 billion pounds of food goes to waste each year—while more than $40 billion in tax credits goes unclaimed annually in the US—Jasmine recognized an opportunity to do well by doing good. So she founded Goodr, a startup that leverages blockchain technology and Google Maps to bring surplus food from the businesses that have it to the nonprofits and people that need it. Goodr tracks an organization’s food waste from pickup to donation, delivering the competitive advantage of real-time social impact reporting analytics. The Atlanta-based company provides a triple-win solution for clients: improving bottom lines through charitable tax donations, reducing greenhouse emissions from landfills, and getting surplus food to local communities in need.

To help put her business plan for Goodr into practice, Jasmine participated in a 2017 Google for Startups hackathon at Atlanta Tech Village. There, she started laying the groundwork for launch and building connections with Atlanta entrepreneurs and Google mentors. Two years of rapid growth later, the Goodr team received personalized Google Ads and marketing advice at the Google for Startups Atlanta pop-up, which brought together more than 40 underrepresented founders for 48 hours of focused mentorship. She’s grateful for the 1:1 Google support at every stage of her business journey. “Google Atlanta is right down the street from our office, so one of our advisors will come over here and help us with anything we need,” said Jasmine. “Those things matter.”

Jasmine attributes Google products to helping Goodr get on the map—literally. Her team uses Google Maps API to create the best delivery routes from restaurants and grocery stores to foodbanks, and are exploring a ridesharing API to streamline the process even further. Jasmine also uses Google Analytics, which provided the concrete insights the team needed to expand Goodr to the Washington, DC metro area. “As a non-technical founder, I think Google products are really helpful because they're easy to use and easy to understand,” said Jasmine. “I'm a business, go-to-market person. So it is so helpful to just look at a simple application like Google Analytics and say, ‘Okay, this is where the traffic is coming from.’”

Learn more about Goodr