Acorns 2019: Digby Vollrath, 28
Chief executive and co-founder, Feast It, London
Nominator Polly Fletcher, content and social executive, Feast It
Proudest moment "We've undergone rapid growth over the past 12 months, increasing enquiries by 1,000%, doubling the size of the team, moving office three times, launching across the UK and raising £2.3m in funding. The proudest moment sits somewhere in the middle."
Greatest inspiration "My co-founder Hugo Campbell and I have taken investment from some inspirational entrepreneurs, who have poured time and effort into mentoring us and helping Feast It grow."
Why hospitality is a great career "What could be more fun in life than working with the most exciting and talented people, where the sole aim is to create meals, drinks and experiences that make people have fun?"
The diverse experiences Digby Vollrath notched up before starting Feast It include starting a music blog aged 18, getting a degree in politics and working on African conservation for the Smithsonian Institute as a development fellow. But perhaps the most useful was working for a music festival, Festicket, managing festivals in the US and Europe. This fed an ambition to start an event catering company that would offer value for the industry. Cue Feast it.
At the time, Vollrath was 24 with about three years' experience outside university. Two years ago his goal was simply to fill a gap in the London street food scene. Today, he and his partner Hugo Campbell are determined to be the UK's largest online marketplace for booking event supply by 2020, connecting customers with suppliers from Michelin-starred restaurants to Dirty Burger.
At the moment, Vollrath has a team of 23, operates across the UK and is on a programme of rapid growth, with six months of continued revenue improvement of more than 30%, month-on-month. He also takes part in the on-boarding process, talking to recruits to get an understanding of their ideas and backgrounds. He encourages their input into company projects, helping to create a co-operative working environment where all feel appreciated.
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