Students Launch Instagram-Worthy Vegan Jerky 

Allyson Stewart and Bridget Henley, recent Masters of Business graduates at the University of Michigan, created legume-based jerky brand MINDWELL with millennials in mind. The duo was awarded $100,000 this week in seed funding by student-led $10 million investment firm The Zell Lurie Founders Fund to expand the distribution of their products to retailers in the midwest. “MINDWELL’s key differentiators—plant-based, high-protein, and convenient—are the drivers that are shaping many new food brands, and ones that legacy players in the space are trying to crack the code on,” Wiles Kase, who co-led the Founder Funds investment, said. “MINDWELL is making some really exciting progress, and we have every confidence that Allyson and Bridget will grow the company into a force to be reckoned with.”