Rowena Scherer
New York
Rowena Scherer is the founder of Eat 2 Explore – an award winning subscription-based family cooking kit business that focuses on delivering cultural education through cuisine while providing the hard-to-find spices and sauces that make the meal unique. Rowena, now a mother of two, grew up cooking with her family in Malaysia and aims to bring that same memorable experience to her subscription customers while also helping children learn life-skills and broaden their cultural horizons.
Rowena, who had initially received a microloan from Accompany Capital partner WEALF, began a relationship with Accompany Capital through the Take Off Now business pitch competition which was hosted in partnership with New York Women in Business and sponsored by Wells Fargo Open for Business Fund. Her video submission was selected as the runner-up finalist among existing businesses from an applicant pool of over 150. This business pitch competition highlighted businesses who were able to pivot during the pandemic for further growth, and Rowena was a perfect example, using the focus on at-home activities to grow her business from $104,000 in sales in 2019 to over $184,000 in sales in 2020 and Eat2Explore continues to grow rapidly.
Rowena continued her work with Accompany Capital by receiving a small business loan in April of 2021 to help her fulfill new wholesale purchase orders from William Sonoma and Khols and with that assistance reported total revenue of $1.2 million in 2021. Eat 2 Explore’s goals in 2022 include securing more wholesale partners and focusing on partnering with schools and education centers.
Accompany Capital Services:
• Microloan