We Are Cortex | Andrew Glantz

You’d be hard pressed to find a photo of Andrew Glantz without his trademark purple GiftAMeal T-shirt. He’s a tireless promoter of the company he founded as a Washington University undergraduate — as well as the city and the Cortex community that supported him from the start.

Glantz came up with the idea — a cause-marketing firm that melds social media, dining and food bank support — during a college internship with a venture capital firm. He threw his savings into launching it and, since its founding a decade ago, the company has donated 2.5 million meals to food bank clients across 44 states.

The concept is simple. Guests visiting any of more than 1,000 participating restaurants “snap a photo of their food or drink using the GiftAMeal app. We make a donation to a local food bank to give a meal to someone in need,” he said. Posting the photo on social media notches another meal donation.

In St. Louis, Glantz and GiftAMeal work with Operation Food Search, which distributes $30 million worth of food and necessities a year to partners across 25 counties in Missouri and Illinois.

Participating restaurants range from local favorites such as Pastaria to regional chains such as Snarf's and Lion's Choice to national chains such as Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken.

The restaurants pay GiftAMeal to be part of the program, counting the fee as a marketing expense that promotes their business and its support for feeding the hungry. His work has landed him a place among the St. Louis Business Journal’s 2025 “Business 500” as an “emerging leader.”

That honor reflects Glantz’s appreciation for the startup ecosystem that has nurtured his business. “Being a member of Cortex means being surrounded by like-minded people who are collaborative and supportive of our mission of healing hunger in St. Louis and across the country,” he said. He credits the relatively low cost of living and the access to startup resources and fellow entrepreneurs.

“St. Louis and Cortex in general is a great place to build a business,” Glantz said. “It's kind of that Silicon Valley innovative vibe in Cortex, but in the midwestern positive, uplifting vibe of St. Louis.”

We Are Cortex celebrates the individuals who power our vibrant district.