Who doesn’t love a good surprise, especially when it comes in the form of affordable food? That’s the concept behind Goodie Bag, an app that notifies users when a nearby shop or restaurant has surplus food it’s willing to unload at a steep discount — say, $18 worth of pizza, pastries, or produce for $9. The model keeps food out of landfills, draws new customers to restaurants, and provides an affordable food option.

Briana Boehmer ’02 — whose background was building tech-based businesses around health, wellness, and fitness — was smitten by the Goodie Bag concept when she first heard about it in 2023. “One of the things I loved about this opportunity was trying to create something that connected community with a well-being focus,” she says.

Cofounders Luke Siegert and Eddy Connors had developed the app to the viable product stage and secured funds to bring it to market, but they lacked the resources to pay themselves. Boehmer thought she could help. Soon after meeting the two, Boehmer quit her job as chief operations officer for a fitness tech company to sign on as the third cofounder and COO of Goodie Bag.

Her instincts paid off. Not only did she and her partners launch the app, but by mid-2024, they’d raised enough money to start paying themselves full salaries, and they’ve now grown to 10 employees. After starting out in Boulder, Colorado, they’ve expanded to Fort Collins, Denver, and Colorado Springs in their home state, as well as Charlotte, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina; Madison; Milwaukee; and most recently, New York City. They also started a pilot project with UW–Madison to offer Goodie Bags at the Badger Markets at Union South and Memorial Union, and they’re hoping to expand to other campus sites — and eventually, to other universities.

“I measure success by the feedback we’re getting,” Boehmer says. “We’re on the right track when we’re getting messages from businesses letting us know that their shops are staying open because they’ve been able to implement our services — and from customers saying that they’re visiting places they would never have visited because they found them through Goodie Bag. I know this might sound cheesy, but it really is true we are changing things for the better.

“That sense of being a part of something bigger than yourself and contributing to your community — I learned that at Wisconsin.”

Published in the Summer 2026 issue