Vinay Menda was born and raised in Dubai. He moved to NYC in 2011 to attend NYU, where he co-founded Reshape Ventures with Issam Freiha, deploying over $150M across 100+ consumer and real estate startups including Sweetgreen, Industrious and Reddit. In the Summer of 2020, Vinay and Issam founded Blank Street, a small-format cafe aimed at bringing quality, spark, and hospitality back to retail coffee.

Today, Blank Street operates 100+ cafes across the US and UK, and is known for its viral and creative beverages, such as the Blueberry Matcha and Daydream Latte. As the co-founder, president, and US MD, Vinay is committed to driving Blank Street’s growth by fostering innovation, enhancing customer experience, and bringing the brand to new audiences.