# The Yay Company

> The Yay Company (operating as Yay Lunch) is a Charlottesville, Virginia-based digital school-food marketplace that connects parents, K-12 schools, and local caterers to deliver healthier, kid-approved meals. Founded in 2018, it handles menus, ordering, payments, quality assurance, and delivery logistics, and has expanded beyond lunch into breakfast, snacks, and grab-and-go marketplaces across multiple U.S. metro markets.

- **Founded:** 2018
- **Headquarters:** Charlottesville, Virginia, United States
- **Founders:** Christina Liva Diiorio (Founder & CEO), Derek Mansfield (Co-founder & COO)
- **Team size:** ~50 employees
- **Products:** Yay Lunch Marketplace, School Dining Partnerships, Breakfast, Snacks & Grab-and-Go, Local Caterer Network
- **Notable:** Raised $15.5M total, including a $12M Series A in November 2021 led by Valor Siren Ventures., Grew 200%+ year over year since inception., Expanded from a single spring 2018 pilot to 100+ schools across multiple metro markets.

## Products & services

- **Yay Lunch Marketplace** — A digital ordering platform where parents browse monthly menus, pick from six to eight daily options including a daily special, and order by the week, month, or full school year.
- **School Dining Partnerships** — Turnkey food service for K-12 schools that outsources menus, quality assurance, ordering, payments, and delivery logistics.
- **Breakfast, Snacks & Grab-and-Go** — Expanded offerings beyond lunch, including breakfast, snacks, and on-site grab-and-go marketplaces at school clients.
- **Local Caterer Network** — A vetted supplier network of local caterers and chefs who must follow nutrition guidelines, avoiding highly processed foods and excess sugar and leaning on locally sourced ingredients.

## Achievements

- Raised $15.5M total, including a $12M Series A in November 2021 led by Valor Siren Ventures.
- Grew 200%+ year over year since inception.
- Expanded from a single spring 2018 pilot to 100+ schools across multiple metro markets.
- Evolved from 'Yay Lunch' into 'The Yay Company,' broadening from lunch into breakfast, snacks, and grab-and-go.

## Latest updates

- **2021-11** — Closed $12M Series A led by Valor Siren Ventures to scale school-lunch operations.
- **2022-12** — Latest reported funding activity; company operating as The Yay Company across multiple markets.

## Links

- Website: https://yaylunch.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-yay-company
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.yay.company/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/yaylunch/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/the-yay-company
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-08