“Going from doing everything yourself and then stepping into the CEO role is a big transition and is very challenging — especially when you have a grand dream like mine.”
— Svetlana Elgart, founder and CEO of Rainbow Chefs Academy
In 2012, Svetlana Elgart told her three daughters that she was going to start an educational nutrition company: “They were speechless. They said, ‘No one knows what that is,’ to which I replied, ‘I know that. That’s what I want to change.’”
Svetlana started her business, Rainbow Chefs Academy (RCA), out of her own kitchen with a vision to make a difference in children’s lives by teaching them how to build healthier habits. Born in Odessa, Ukraine, Svetlana grew up with a lifestyle where food was simple, cooked from scratch, and never processed. She maintained these habits when she moved to the United States and started raising a family, becoming locally known as “the mom who cooked.”
“Sometimes I would have 10 kids at my table that I was cooking scratch meals for. The more I did this, the more I noticed how many of those kids were overweight or had Type 2 Diabetes. When I started to become more involved in the classroom at my children's school, I realized that healthy habits and proper nutrition were not being taught.”
Currently, one in five children in America is obese. By bringing health and wellness education to districts that serve predominantly economically disadvantaged student populations, RCA is addressing the social determinants of long-term economic mobility, empowering students with knowledge and support to lead healthy, productive lives as adults. Since opening RCA, the team has taught more than 50,000 kids across California through partnerships with school districts, who leverage existing state and federal funding to bring RCAs health education to after-school enrichment programs. This creates a sound revenue model for RCA, but also makes them dependent on district payment cycles, hindering cash flow. ICAs investment will act as a strategic bridge, catalyzing growth and momentum during these temporary liquidity gaps.
Scaling a vision of building community health
RCA expanded across California from 2013 to 2020, building a curriculum that combines culinary arts, nutrition literacy, and STEM/STEAM principles — all mapped to Common Core, CASEL, and NGSS standards. Their programming is also WASC-accredited and is currently the only nutrition and wellness provider whose coursework can be offered for academic credit.
Realizing she couldn't continue to scale the original in-person model, Svetlana transitioned RCA to an online platform in 2020. They launched a SaaS-based learning management system (LMS) to host lessons, assessments, and reporting tools that allow educators to track student progress and districts to measure outcomes through pre- and post-program data. RCA continues to partner with school districts statewide, has seen 9x revenue growth since 2023, and became profitable in 2024. ICA is stepping in as a capital provider and strategic partner at a pivotal time for RCA, recently confirming that they are prepping a new curriculum for an expansion into Texas. Now, they not only have the capital but also a community to rally around them as they build towards this next milestone:
“ICA is more for the heart, and I knew I would be supported on this journey. Money is great, but having a support system is really important. My whole team is excited about the community, which is what really stands out to me about ICA.”
Building an ecosystem of good jobs
As RCA grows across state lines, we’re excited to see them continue building an ecosystem of good jobs centered around their mission:
“Our business is very community-based. We are growing a job market around what we’re doing: we hire food deliverers and advisors, and we have an expansive credential and professional development program for our culinary teachers. Right now, our big vision is to launch a CTE program where we can provide professional training and development for high school students interested in becoming dietitians, chefs, nutritionists, and other health and wellness providers. We’ve already begun piloting CTE courses with schools and will soon be taking those results to develop our go-to-market plan.”
Scaling toward a big vision can be one of the most daunting challenges for an entrepreneur, but also the most rewarding. Svetlana’s story is a prime example of this. When asked for advice on staying committed to growing a business, she said:
“Never give up. You're always going to have a rough time being an entrepreneur or CEO. Believe in yourself and what you do, and be strong enough not to walk away. If you can get through that, then you can get through many things. It’s simple.”
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30 Years of ICA Fund
This year, ICA Fund celebrates 30 years of backing great businesses and proving what’s possible when we support underrepresented entrepreneurs. To mark this occasion we will be lifting up the ICA Fund community that got us this far and charting the bold work ahead. Stay tuned for new founder stories, case studies on the innovations our portfolio companies are creating, and deep dives on how our model works. Join us in stewarding the next 30 years of ICA Fund — together we’re building the future of investing.
