Ike Grigoropoulos
About Ike Grigoropoulos
Ike Grigoropoulos is a co-founder of CAVA. In 2006 he started the Greek restaurant Cava Mezze in Rockville, Maryland, with childhood friends Ted Xenohristos and Dimitri Moshovitis. Brett Schulman joined later, and the business grew into the Mediterranean fast-casual chain CAVA, which now trades on the NYSE.
His LinkedIn profile lists him as Managing Partner at CAVA since November 2006. It also lists restaurant consulting at CMRG Consulting since May 2015, where he gives financial and operations support to chefs who want to own restaurants or expand their brands. His X profile describes him as owner and founder of Cava Mezze, Cava and Julii. He studied accounting at the University of Baltimore.
Little of his angel activity is public. CB Insights classifies him as an individual angel investor based in Rockville and lists one investment, Proxy Foods. That record shows an angel round dated 2024-03-22 and a seed round in 2026. Founders should not assume a broader portfolio from public sources.
His disclosed AI investment is Proxy Foods (also called Proxy Foods AI), a Washington, D.C. company founded in 2022. It sells a software platform that uses AI to formulate and optimize recipes for food and beverage products. Proxy Foods announced a $2M pre-seed round that included CAVA's Ike Grigoropoulos, Ted Xenohristos and Dimitri Moshovitis, with Ted Leonsis also participating.
In August 2026 the company raised a $6M seed round led by Ted Leonsis. Press coverage names Grigoropoulos among the other participants. The Lounge deals desk lists this as two entries, Proxy Foods Seed and Proxy Foods AI Seed, both $6M in 2026-08. These appear to describe the same round.
The public record is too thin to describe a thesis. His one disclosed investment is an early-stage AI software company in food and beverage, a sector he knows from running restaurants. He has not published a check size, target stage range, geographic focus or list of criteria that we could find. Founders outside food and hospitality should treat fit as unconfirmed.
- Proxy Foods: AI platform for food and beverage recipe formulation; invested in the pre-seed round and the $6M seed round announced in August 2026.
- cbinsights.com/investor/ike-grigoropoulos
- cbinsights.com/company/proxy-foods
- cbinsights.com/company/proxy-foods/financials
- proxyfoods.ai/press/proxy-foods-2-million-preseed-funding
- vcaonline.com/news/2026080509/proxy-foods-ai-raises-6m-seed-round-to-a
- thesaasnews.com/news/proxy-foods-ai-raises-6m-seed
- restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/how-cava-group-financed-its-way
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cava_Group
Investing activity
Ike Grigoropoulos appears in 2 AI deals tracked by the Lounge deals desk. The rounds are mostly Seed, with a median round size of $6M. The most recent are Proxy Foods AI (Seed, $6M, Aug 2026) and Proxy Foods (Seed, $6M, Aug 2026).
Ike Grigoropoulos most often invests alongside Ted Leonsis, Jeff Skoll, Alexander Georgiadis and Grant Verstandig, and the companies they back on Lounge are mostly in AI.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Ike Grigoropoulos
Who is Ike Grigoropoulos?
He is a co-founder of the CAVA restaurant group in Rockville, Maryland, and works as a restaurant consultant. He is also an angel investor.
Has Ike Grigoropoulos invested in AI startups?
Yes. He is listed as an investor in Proxy Foods, an AI recipe formulation company, in its pre-seed round and in its $6M seed round announced in August 2026.
What is Ike Grigoropoulos's angel check size?
No check size is public. We have not found a stated range in press, Crunchbase or CB Insights.
What stage does Ike Grigoropoulos invest in?
His only disclosed investments are pre-seed and seed rounds at Proxy Foods. He has not published a stage preference.
What sectors does Ike Grigoropoulos back?
The only public example is AI for food and beverage product development. He has made no public statement about other sectors.
How can founders contact Ike Grigoropoulos?
He has a public LinkedIn profile and an X account, @CavaIke. No personal website or investor contact page was found.
Is Ike Grigoropoulos an angel investor?
Yes. Ike Grigoropoulos invests personally as an angel.
What AI companies has Ike Grigoropoulos invested in?
Ike Grigoropoulos's AI investments include Proxy Foods AI and Proxy Foods. The 2 rounds on Lounge are listed on this page with amounts, dates and co-investors.
What stage does Ike Grigoropoulos invest at?
In the rounds tracked on Lounge, Ike Grigoropoulos has invested at Seed, with a median round of $6M.
Who does Ike Grigoropoulos co-invest with?
Ike Grigoropoulos's most frequent co-investors on Lounge are Ted Leonsis (2 deals), Jeff Skoll (2 deals), Alexander Georgiadis (2 deals), Grant Verstandig (2 deals) and SWaN & Legend Venture Partners (2 deals).