They serve clients with serious medical conditions, including gestational or uncontrolled diabetes, kidney failure, heart disease, and chronic mental health problems. The patients are referred to MLC Nutrition by physicians and case managers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told my colleagues last week that if I won the Powerball jackpot, I\u2019d still keep doing this,\u2019\u2019 says Sena, the company CEO. \u201cThe impact we\u2019re making, and the lives we\u2019re changing, is incredible.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n
![\"Vanessa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Summer_Fellowship_125-300x200.jpg\")
Vanessa Sena, far right, founder of MLC Nutrition, poses with some of the other promising entrepreneurs following the CCEI Summer Fellowship Accelerator (Adonis Giantomidis \/ Defining Studios)<\/p>\n
Her partners in the venture are Helen Wu, Ph.D., associate professor in The Cato T. Laurencin Institute for Regenerative Engineering and the Departments of Psychiatry and Public Health Sciences at UConn School of Medicine, and UConn medical student Lucia Duenas-Bianchi.<\/p>\n
To date, MLC Nutrition has delivered 150,000 meals to Connecticut residents at their homes. The company partners with local chefs and facilities to prepare the food under the guidance of nutritionists, and includes offerings like mushroom and spinach lasagna, jerk shrimp and pineapple brown rice, Puerto Rican stewed beans and potatoes, and roasted poblano and corn chowder. The meal service is typically covered by health insurance.<\/p>\n
Startup Competing for a Share of the Wolff Prizes<\/p>\n
MLC Nutrition is one of five UConn-affiliated startups competing in the Wolff New Venture Competition<\/a> in Hartford next month. Now in its 10th year, the event is hosted by UConn\u2019s Connecticut Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CCEI)<\/a> and will award more than $115,000 in prize money, including $30,000 for the first-place finisher. Considered the School of Business\u2019 pinnacle entrepreneurship challenge, the Oct. 23 event is open to the public to attend.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the Wolff New Venture Competition first launched, there was one $15,000 prize, thanks to the generosity of the Wolff family. Now, a decade later, we\u2019ve expanded into 10 prizes, totaling more than $115,000, along with a startup showcase and keynote speaker,\u2019\u2019 says Alycia Chrosniak, Assistant Director of Brand and Venture Development at CCEI. \u201cIt\u2019s been incredible to watch this competition grow into a cornerstone event for UConn\u2019s entrepreneurial community.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n Starting Small, Figuring It Out as They Go<\/p>\n Sena, whose previously owned a culinary business and also has event-planning experience, became interested in home-based nutritional services when she worked as a consultant teaching hospital managers how good food can improve health conditions.<\/p>\n When she started exploring companies that offered at-home nutritional food services, she found none.<\/p>\n \u201cI know hospitals, providers and payers all want this type of care,\u2019\u2019 she says. \u201cI think that others have been discouraged because it is so hard to build it. It is tough to scale and takes a lot of resources. We\u2019re starting small and figuring it out as we go.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cWe saw the gaps, not only in getting people to select the healthiest foods but we also recognize that there are places where there just isn\u2019t easy access to good-quality, fresh food,\u2019\u2019 she says. \u201cWhen a patient is in the hospital, they have their dietary needs met. But once they are discharged, there just wasn\u2019t anything in place. We wanted to bridge that gap.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n MLC Nutrition just opened its first clinic at 602 New Britain Avenue in Hartford, which will offer access to physicians, dietitians and laboratory tests. \u00a0It is the first stand-alone food-as-medicine clinic in the state, where doctors and case managers can send their patients to receive ongoing nutrition management and support and other services. The company has plans to expand into New York State, the mid-Atlantic and Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n Patient Satisfaction is at Core of the Company<\/p>\n CCEI selected Sena to participate in its Summer Fellowship Accelerator this year. The eight-week program provides intensive startup support through mentorship, workshops, pro bono services, and $15,000 in non-dilutive funding. Designed to help promising entrepreneurs grow their businesses, it also prepares them to avoid many of the pitfalls that challenge early-stage startups.<\/p>\n Although she had previously owned a small business in California, Sena says CCEI gave her a deeper exposure to business success.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was really great to work on the structure of the organization, our leadership and training model,\u2019\u2019 she says. \u201cI gained a better understanding of setting up the business so that it can more easily scale and I learned how to deliver my message, and the importance of strong relationships with stakeholders.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n If MLC Nutrition wins the Wolff grand prize, Sena will hire a care manager\/care coordinator for the company\u2019s Connecticut operation.<\/p>\n To keep ahead of inflation, the company orders in bulk each month and purchases bags of produce through Levo International<\/a>, a nonprofit started by UConn alumnus Christian Heiden, created to combat food insecurity and promote hydroponic farming.<\/p>\n But one thing that won\u2019t change is Sena\u2019s commitment to her clients.<\/p>\n \u201cWe start with the patients and make sure they are happy and satisfied,\u2019\u2019 Sena says. Patients can select from a variety of meals that change weekly, offering foods that appeal to different cultures, and from menus produced both in English and in Spanish. \u201cI focus on foods that I would want to eat, and we keep high quality standards.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n