fbpx Cut+Dry

We’re changing the way people think about technology in foodservice.

We're a team made up of food service experts and the best technology talent.

Cut+DryCut+DryCut+Dry

Cut+Dry is a single, powerful, easy-to-use platform to make food commerce a more enjoyable, profitable, and less wasteful experience.

Our secret sauce is connecting manufacturers, distributors, and restaurants through technology and data, and working together to change food service.

Created by the team that built Sysco’s entire digital experience

Our Story

Cut+Dry was created by a team of Foodservice fanatics with decades of experience in hospitality, technology, restaurant operations, wholesale food distribution, food analytics, and data science.

Our executive team has built and scaled multiple companies in the food service industry, but most importantly, we created Sysco LABS and led Sysco’s multi-year digital transformation. This first-hand exposure to food service distribution illuminated the antiquated, analog process of procuring wholesale goods from those who supply them to those who ultimately consume them.

After a few years, they’ve decided to part ways with Sysco and start something new. It all started with a simple idea: to level the playfield with technology. And thus, Cut+Dry was born.

Our platform is powerful and flexible, but we’re not selling technology. We’re giving food service businesses a tech solution to enhance their operations, grow sales, and have a positive impact.

Our goal is to provide a positive financial, environmental, and social impact. Food waste is a global problem of epic proportions, and through data, we can create a fully transparent food supply chain

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Our leadership team

The well-seasoned team making it all happen.
mani-kulasooriya

Mani Kulasooriya

Co-Founder & CEO

jim-oconnor

Jim O’Connor

Co-Founder & COO

kevin-wu

Kevin Wu

Co-Founder & SVP of Product

chuck-ellis

Chuck Ellis

Chief Data Scientist

shanil-fernando

Shanil Fernando

Chief Technology and AI Officer

chris-min

Chris Min

Chief Financial Officer

tati-chermayeff

Tati Chermayeff

Director of Business Operations

chinthana-seneviratne

Chinthana Seneviratne

Director of Operations Sri Lanka

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mani-kulasooriya

Co-Founder & CEO

Mani Kulasooriya

Favorite Food: Jamon Iberico

Location: San Francisco, CA

A serial entrepreneur, Mani has spent the past decade at the intersection of food, restaurants, and technology. He started his career in Fintech building payment systems at Citibank and Yahoo. This training laid the groundwork for Mani to conceive and design complex, scalable, transaction-based businesses with a payments element. Mani went on to co-found CAKE, a restaurant POS startup, which was acquired by Sysco (SYY). While at Sysco, Mani helped create a brand new technology organization, Sysco Labs, which he helped grow to a 400+ team.

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jim-oconnor

Co-Founder & COO

Jim O’Connor

Favorite Food: Squid Ink Pasta

Location: San Francisco, CA

From his humble beginning working on the farms in his hometown Farmville, Virginia, to his extensive career in finance and technology, Jim brings a wealth of experience and passion to making independent restaurants as competitive as they can be. Jim is a co-founder of CAKE (acquired by Sysco) and began his career in finance, working at Chase Manhattan and Rothschild & Co. He later transitioned to product lead at Yahoo! Finance developing personal finance and investing products.

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kevin-wu

Co-Founder & SVP of Product

Kevin Wu

Favorite Food: Ramen

Location: San Francisco, CA

Kevin has 10+ years of experience working directly with restaurants, understanding their frustrations, and developing solutions to streamline their operations. In his previous role at CAKE (acquired by Sysco), he led the product and design team in developing point-of-sale, waitlist management, payments, and online ordering solutions for restaurants. He began his career in finance working at Citigroup and Yahoo! Finance, where he led the development of charting and investing products. While earning his BS in Industrial Engineering at Stanford, he studied supply chains and continues to apply those learnings today. In his role at Cut+Dry, Kevin leads the product team and works closely with distributors and operators to create a meaningful product strategy.

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chuck-ellis

Chief Data Scientist

Chuck Ellis

Favorite Food: Fresh Oysters on the Half-Shell, from Maine

Location: Boston, MA

A veteran of foodservice industry data analytics, Chuck has collected, classified, and analyzed billions of POS transactions and Operator product purchases. As founder and CEO of Restaurant Sciences, Inc., Chuck built the nation’s largest warehouse of POS data, reposing full daily purchase and sales details from over 28,000 restaurants, bars, hotels, and institutions. As Founder and CEO of Foodservice Analytics, Inc., Chuck developed advanced taxonomy and attribution models for foodservice products, providing both coding and consulting services to major industry players such as Nielsen, AB Inbev, and Sysco. Chuck entered the restaurant industry after graduation from Cornell University, spending ten years in both front- and back-of-house roles before joining Gazelle Systems in 2000, the industry’s first POS-integrated analytics platform and data network. It’s his mission to bring high efficiency, and product and price transparency to operators throughout North America.

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shanil-fernando

Chief Technology and AI Officer

Shanil Fernando

Favorite Food: Japanese Cuisine

Location: Colombo, Sri Lanka

Shanil is a visionary technology leader with over two decades of global experience, known for his expertise in nurturing and expanding tech startups. His most recent ten years have been dedicated to the intersection of food, restaurants, and technology. His career began as a founding software engineer at the IT consulting firm Virtusa (NASDAQ: VRTU), where he played a pivotal role in the company's growth, ultimately leading to its listing on the Nasdaq stock exchange. After his tenure at Virtusa, Shanil co-founded CAKE, alongside Mani and Jim. At Sysco, Shanil spearheaded the establishment and expansion of Sysco Labs, the company's innovation arm that drives technological transformation throughout the organization. Notably, Shanil played a key role in establishing an offshore captive center for Sysco, which boasted a workforce of over 950 IT professionals. In his current role at Cut+Dry, Shanil serves as the Chief Technology and AI Officer, leveraging his extensive experience and expertise to drive technological advancements within the food service industry.

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chris-min

Chief Financial Officer

Chris Min

Favorite Food: Rare Bison Tenderloin

Location: Denver, CO

Business process improvement, automation of core functions, and focus on data to drive accountability and financial results have been key themes throughout Chris' career. He spent a number of years with Fortune 500 firms (Procter & Gamble, Western Union, First Data) which led to his current focus on startups, especially in fintech. Chris worked with the Cut+Dry leadership team at CAKE and Sysco. During the pandemic, Chris helped the CAKE team optimize financial results, reduce expenses, and achieve positive cash flow and earnings.

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tati-chermayeff

Director of Business Operations

Tati Chermayeff

Favorite Food: Braised Short Ribs

Location: Austin, Texas

Tati started at Cut+Dry in July 2021 after graduating with Honors from Harvard College. She is a former Division I rower and an accomplished entrepreneur driven by her passion for the food industry. During her time at Harvard, Tati successfully founded and grew her first startup into a self-sustaining business generating over $100K in annual revenue. In her first year at Cut+Dry, Tati worked closely with the SVP of Sales & Marketing and ultimately became the Chief of Staff in June 2022. Tati is now the Director of Business Operations, where she oversees all go-to-market strategy, corporate development, and daily business operations for Cut+Dry.

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chinthana-seneviratne

Director of Operations Sri Lanka

Chinthana Seneviratne

Favorite Food: Smoked Louisiana BBQ Ribs

Location: Colombo, Sri Lanka

Chinthana began his career in foodservice technology as an early member of CAKE He established the operations team and processes that were later scaled after CAKE was acquired by Sysco. After the acquisition, Chinthana led a larger operations team that included Customer Support, Supply Chain Management, and warehousing for CAKE. He later joined Cut+Dry to lead the engineering, product, and operations teams located in Sri Lanka.

Meet the rest of team

We have your back (of house)!

One of us!

We're always looking for amazing people to join our team. Check out our career page for open opportunities.

Career page