Biography
Max Vanacore Mandell ’20 is the founder and CEO of Backhouse, an AI platform for foodservice distribution that helps distributors and manufacturers quote, sell, and support their restaurant customers in avoiding costly mistakes. He founded the company in 2025, after three years in venture capital and growth equity at Catalyst Investors.
Mandell grew up in the restaurant business. His grandfather opened Mimi’s Pizza in the 1950s, a New York staple for more than 50 years, and his mother ran Grazie, an Italian restaurant down the street, for 27 years. Sourcing equipment for those kitchens in the Bowery District (and seeing how inefficient the market was) became the problem he built a company around.
Backhouse is venture-backed, has grown to millions of SKUs, and serves customers across the United States. Mandell holds a bachelor of science from Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and credits Cornell for inspiring him to start a career in technology.