# Benjamin Chesler

> Benjamin Chesler is the CEO of North Spore, a Portland, Maine company that sells mushroom grow kits, spawn, sterile substrates and fungi wellness products to home and commercial growers. Before mushrooms, he co-founded Imperfect Foods, the grocery delivery startup that rescued cosmetically imperfect produce and recovered more than 250 million pounds of food. A Brown graduate and Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, he is a self-described systems thinker who got his start co-founding the Food Recovery Network as a college student and later helped build startup programs at Northeastern's Roux Institute.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer at North Spore
- **Organizations:** North Spore, Imperfect Foods, Food Recovery Network, Roux Institute at Northeastern University
- **From:** Newton, Massachusetts, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor's degree, Brown University, High school, Newton South High School
- **Known for:** Co-founded Imperfect Foods, which has recovered more than 250 million pounds of food and delivered over 20 million orders since 2015, Co-founded the Food Recovery Network and helped scale it to roughly 150 colleges nationwide, Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 (2018)

## Career timeline

- **2011** — Co-founded the Food Recovery Network with Ben Simon, recovering uneaten food from college dining halls
- **2012** — Started the Brown University chapter of the Food Recovery Network
- **2015** — Co-founded Imperfect Produce (later Imperfect Foods) in San Francisco, serving as COO and later Chief Innovation Officer
- **2018** — Named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list
- **2023** — Named a Mainebiz 40 Under 40 honoree as Director of venture creation and acceleration at the Roux Institute
- **2024** — Joined North Spore as an advisor
- **2025** — Became CEO of North Spore

## Achievements

- Co-founded Imperfect Foods, which has recovered more than 250 million pounds of food and delivered over 20 million orders since 2015
- Co-founded the Food Recovery Network and helped scale it to roughly 150 colleges nationwide
- Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 (2018)
- Named a Mainebiz 40 Under 40 honoree (2023)
- Helped develop startup and venture programs at the Roux Institute at Northeastern University
- An early champion of giving ownership stakes to every employee, including hourly warehouse workers, at Imperfect Foods

## Latest updates

- **2026-05** — North Spore raised funding (reported total of about $2.65 million) to support marketing, a retail launch, and team growth under Chesler's leadership.
- **2025** — Stepped into the CEO role at North Spore after a year advising the company's founders.

## Links

- Website: https://northspore.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/benchesler

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/benjamin-chesler
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-14