Akshay Prabhu

I am on a mission to support people to nourish themselves and each other in a way that reconnects us to our creativity, our community and our planet

I’m currently doing this through Foodnome, an online marketplace for homemade food from permitted home restaurants. We passed legislation across the country, legalizing the sale of home cooked food enabling anyone to get an authentic homemade meal from members of their community.

At other times, you can find me farming, open fire cooking, mushroom foraging, rock climbing, throwing clay, playing jazz saxophone, building things, and watercolor painting to name a few. I try to never stop learning!

In a previous life, I earned a Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience from UC Davis and spent time building computer systems doing computational neuroscience research on awake brain surgery patients.

I didn’t make it here alone—I owe everything to my dear family and community who have supported me throughout my life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Hello! I’m Akshay.

Foodnome

2017 – Present

Founder & CEO of Foodnome. The first online marketplace for home cooked food from permitted home based restaurants. Empowering food entrepreneurship, building community, and redefining our relationship to our food.

  • $3M+ funding raised from top tier investors

  • $2M+ in food sold , 250+ Home Restaurants, 50,000+ users

  • 11 member employees, hired & managed

  • Passed legislation in CA, UT & built national campaign to legalize home cooking

  • Managed investor relations & pro forma financial

Featured in NPR, LA Times, Marketplace, SF Chronicle, Eater & many more:

Highlights

  • Hulu Segment-The Next Thing You Eat with David Chang

  • PBS Documentary: 'Home Restaurant'

  • United Plates of America Feature Episode

Neuroscience

2014 – 2017

In 2015, I graduated UC Davis with a Bachelor’s of Science in Neuroscience.

I worked alongside neurosurgeon, Fady Girgis, in operating room performing computational neuroscience research with awake brain surgery patients

  • Realtime programing of 3 computer system that displayed experiment on screen, recorded & tracked eye movements & measured neuronal spike activity in the STN.

  • Designed, implemented & analyzed five separate experiments gaining experience in EEG, FDG PET, Spike sorting

Food Jazz

Cooking has been a part of my life since I was a child. For me food is symbolic of love when words are inadequate. Memories are created over the warmth and aroma of a homemade meal. After hosting hundreds of pop up dinners, staging at restaurants, and helping hundreds of people get their own culinary dreams off the ground, I have developed my own nontraditional cooking methodology: Food Jazz

I’m currently working on consolidating my musings into educational materials focused on teaching people improvisational cooking and creative self sufficiency.

Akshay Prabhu
Akshay Prabhu
Akshay Prabhu

Bicycles

In college, I spent some years as the student manager of the campus bike shop . The Bike Barn is the busiest shop in the nation handling over 10,000 bikes a year. I learned invaluable mechanical problem solving & realtime customer service skills. My love of bikes and other micro mobility has been rolling ever since.

I’m currently working on a 10 seater pedal powered bike bus campus tours business serving prospective UC Davis students and families.

Climbing

Akshay Prabhu
Akshay Prabhu

I picked up rock climbing in high school as a cross training exercise between pole vault seasons. Though I didn’t make the cut for collegiate vaulting, my passion for climbing stuck.

I climbed competitively and was a founding member and vice president of the UC Davis climbing team. After working for years as a route setter at a climbing gym, I transitioned my hobby into an economic stream.

I now work seasonally as a pinecone harvester and a large tree pruning arborist. I find climbing is a great way to keep my body in motion. It’s a gym membership that pays you!

Principles

Under Promise, Over Deliver

I strive to set achievable goals, work hard and build trust through consistency.

Radical Empathy

I can never know what’s best for someone other than myself. I try to listen attentively and only give feedback when asked. All humans have gifts to share with the world, we just have to remember to see them.

Always Keep Moving

The only constant is change. I try to always stay in motion of body, mind & spirit. Learning new things and constantly challenging myself gives life purpose.

Loyal to the Soil

We are human animals. We are part of nature. I’m an agrarian above anything else. How can I be good compost for future generations?

Staying Playful

Life is but a dream. A fleeting moment in the universe. I believe we are not meant to take it too seriously. We are all children at heart. Be romantic whenever you can. Do things that leave a question mark in your heart and the heart of others.

Akshay Prabhu