Shalom! My name is Yitzie Katz and I’m the founder of Kosher GPS: The Worlds #1 Kosher Restaurant app.
Thank you so much for viewing the campaign.
Just a little background on me, I’m a born and bred New Yorker with a background in computer science and business and the father to three children.
I was born into the orthodox community and have always stayed in touch with my roots even through attending college at Queens College and NYU. I started my professional career on Wall Street and later expanded into founding a software and encryption company. (I’m also a tennis fanatic!)
Though I loved what I did at the time, I always felt as if I could service the world in a different way. I wasn’t completely fulfilled.
I found my passion in servicing people with Kosher food. So I went off and found myself running a successful catering business. That lasted for 15 years but I wasn’t using my degrees to the fullest extent and again, I wasn’t completely satisfied.
So I asked myself, “How can I better service the Jewish community?” I stumbled onto the answer when I was struggling to find a Kosher certified restaurant with my GPS.
Back in the stone ages before iPhones and Androids roamed the earth, we used a GPS device to get from point A to point B.
However, as many of you know, GPS devices were not built for finding restaurants.
Especially Kosher ones.
Either the restaurant was closed or the GPS populated options did not have a strict kosher certification for my dietary needs.
So out of sheer frustration and hunger of not knowing where I could eat, I began to create a database of Kosher restaurants to upload into my own GPS.
And that’s when it struck me. I couldn’t be the only one struggling with this problem!
Soon enough friends and family were paying me to hand them the long list of truly kosher certified restaurants. FINALLY, I found my way to help the community and combine my love for food and technology.
Short story long, when Steve Jobs blessed the world with the iPhone turning Kosher GPS from a website to an app was a no brainer.
Fast forward to today, the Kosher GPS community is 230,000 users strong and I couldn’t be more thrilled to be helping this many people not have to worry when going out to eat with the family.
What We Need & What You Get
At Kosher GPS, we’re always looking to innovate and make the best possible app for the kosher community. Not only do we update the restaurant list daily, but we’re coming out with some new features to take the app to a whole other level.
That’s where you come in.
Kosher GPS has always been free in the app store, (and we’d like to keep it that way!) but in order to make our newest updates, we’ll be needing more funding in order to pay for the website and app overhaul, as well as put some money behind salesmen and marketing to spread the good word of Kosher GPS.
Here’s what we’re looking to do:
Update the current Kosher GPS website and app to add:
- A delivery/takeout option
- “On The Way” function: Finding you kosher certified restaurants on the way to your destination
- Reservation Booking
- Market to a larger audience: We want to make sure anyone who’s on a strict kosher diet knows their options and is comfortable to go out to eat with the family! Our current cities will expand and so will new ones so anyone can enjoy a good meal.
- A sales team: expanding into new areas of the country with new restaurants isn’t easy, that’s why we’re looking to bring on a small team of sales people to pitch the app to new restaurants!
All together, this would cost $150,000 plus and now more than ever that’s why we’re looking to reach out to the Kosher GPS community for help.
The Impact
Kosher GPS has been around for 10 years and we’ve stretched ourselves as far as we can up until this point.
The contributions you’ll be making will not only help us create a better app for you, but it will make sure that we can continue to share the app with the kosher community around the world for free.
With over 230,000 users, we simply don’t think that’s enough. We want to positively effect the lives of over 1,000,000 Jewish families who struggle to find kosher certified restaurants and markets. And that starts with you helping to get us to that next level!
Other Ways You Can Help
Maybe you aren’t interested in the restaurants, but you can still donate at the bottom of the page and we’ll be forever grateful for whatever you can contribute! But we understand that not everyone can put money down.
And in that case? We simply ask that you share the Kosher GPS story with everyone you know. We want the world to know that we’re here to help anyone looking for kosher certified restaurants and bring more comfort into your lives no matter where you are!
Again, my team and I really want to thank the whole kosher community for supporting us and for making Kosher GPS the #1 kosher food finding app! Now? Let’s make it EVEN BETTER.
