Today The Spoon discovered that Pilotworks co-founder Nick Devane has left his role as CEO of the company and transitioned into a strategic role. Former COO Zach Ware has taken over position of CEO.
The startup, headquartered in Brooklyn, offers rent-by-the-hour kitchen space for budding food entrepreneurs, and also gives its members access to mentorship opportunities and networking events. It has facilities in Brooklyn, Chicago, Portland (ME), Newark, Dallas, and Providence. Last December, the company received $13 million in expansion capital.
Devane previously told Jennifer Marston of the Spoon that he considered Pilotworks “the AWS [Amazon Web Services] of food” because of their pay-as-you-go approach to all-included kitchen rental.
Ware comes to Pilotworks after working at the Republic of Tea, Zappos, and investment fund VTF Capital. Devane reportedly asked Ware to join Pilotworks as COO in February after Ware spent a week consulting on the company. Devane had served as CEO since co-founding the company in 2016, and will now transition to “a new role focusing on long-term creative and strategic initiatives,” according to a statement we requested from Pilotworks.
Full statement here:
“As Pilotworks continues to grow and expand our commercial kitchens and services for food entrepreneurs and business of any size, we’re pleased to announce Zach Ware as CEO. Mr. Ware brings an extensive record of operations with previous leadership roles at The Republic of Tea, Zappos, and as Pilotworks’ COO. Nick Devane who has served as Pilotworks CEO since co-founding the company will transition to a new role focusing on long-term creative and strategic initiatives.”
We’ll be hosting a free food tech meetup at Pilotworks Providence on July 17th! The event will be focused on sustainable seafood; if you’re in the Providence/Boston area, we’d love to see you there.
