Maria Empanada, a Denver-based restaurant chain that in only six years earned national recognition as the leading brand of artisan empanadas and developing an on-trend, differentiated and highly scalable craft casual food concept. Lorena Cantarovici is the force behind Maria Empanada. Lorena came to Denver from Argentina with $300 in her pocket, and not a word of English; convinced that everything could be accomplished through hard work and perseverance. Using generations-old family recipes, she started selling empanadas from her garage in 2011, mostly to friends and family. Those sales laid the groundwork for something much bigger: • Zagat has rated Maria Empanada as “One of the 12 Hottest New Bakeries in America.” • Lorena has become a celebrity chef in her own right. Maria Empanada was featured on The Food Network –Guy Fieri called her “the Queen of Empanadas”– and has been interviewed in scores of local, national and international media. • Nation’s Restaurant News, the country’s leading industry magazine, named Maria Empanada as “One of 8 Breakout Brands for 2018.” • In 2017 Lorena traveled to Washington, D.C. to receive the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Small Business of the Year Award for the State of Colorado. • The Government of Argentina has referred to her the “Ambassador of the Argentinian Empanada in the U.S.” • The chain won a Top 50 Colorado Companies to Watch Award. • Last November, Maria Empanada secured Series A funding from the Colorado Impact Fund. For Cantarovici the funds are not just an investment in her company but a validation of the empanada itself as a new category in fast casual dining. • Maria Empanada was selected as one of five “2018 Denver Gazelles,” the coveted award of the Denver Office of Economic Development and the Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network Colorado