Latest Updates

EK Foods, Inc Formed

February 2023

EK Foods, Inc formed, incorporated with Bilal Qizilbash and surviving investors as members. The EK Foods name was chosen to honour our EasyKale roots while also demonstrating our expanded capabilities beyond kale.

Second Patent Issued

September 2022

On September 20 th , 2022, we had our second patent issued named “Vegetable powders, methods for manufacturing vegetable powders, and kits thereof” over the entire vegetable markets. Patent Number: 11446348

SEUS-CP Conference 2022

(June 19-21, Savannah, Georgia) June 2022

At the invitation of the Mississippi Development Authority and State of Mississippi, EasyKale participated in the Southeastern US – Canadian Provinces Trade, Investment Conference in Savannah, Georgia. Only five companies were chosen to represent the State of Mississippi.

 

Outstanding Leadership of the Year 2022

April 2022

Bilal was one of fifty people chosen in the world for the Outstanding Leadership of the Year award. The award recognized Bilal’s work as CEO of EasyKale, feeding the homeless weekly for years, helping feed 50,000+ weekly during the peak of the pandemic, his cancer research discoveries, his focus on collaborative research, and being a leader with autism. Bilal was also asked to do a keynote talk on leadership in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Food 2.0 Conference.

 

Richard Sun passes away

March 2022

Bilal's dear friend, co-founder, and mentor suddenly passed away March 1 st , 2022. This marks a significant day for Bilal and the company because we will miss our dear friend forever. Rest in peace buddy.

 

Winter Fancy Foods Show 2022 (February 5-8, Las Vegas, Nevada)

February 2022

At the invitation of the Mississippi Development Authority, EasyKale participated in the Winter Fancy Food Show in Las Vegas, Nevada. Only five companies were chosen to represent the State of Mississippi.

 

Superhero of the Year

February 2022

Bilal was awarded Superhero of the Year by the Central Mississippi Boys & Girls Club; for his dedicated work focused on continuing to feed the community, developing leadership, public speaking, and entrepreneurial skills in our youth, helping develop a VR Partnership with Lobaki, and helping in STEM programs.

 

Bilal gets Married!

October 2021

Bilal married Mehreen Iftikhar on October 7 th , 2021. The City of Jackson made an official Proclamation congratulating Bilal and his wife on their marriage while also commending Bilal’s tireless work for the citizens of Jackson, Mississippi.

 

Princeton University’s Empower Competition Finalist

October 2021

Princeton Entrepreneurship Council hosted their first ever Empower Conference. We were 1 of 20 finalists chosen internationally.

 

Madison WI Gener8tor Finalist

October 2021

We were among the top 20 finalists nationwide from over 4,500 companies. Gener8tor is a world-class startup accelerator with a tremendous alumni network. They hand pick 5 companies that receive “white-glove” treatment and training.

 

US-Canada International Virtual Trade Mission 2021

September 2021

At the invitation of the Mississippi Development Authority, EasyKale participated in the US-Canada International Trade Mission virtually. We were one of twenty companies chosen to represent the State of Mississippi.

 

Visionary of the Year

March 2021

Bilal was awarded Visionary of the Year by Visit Jackson; for his dedicated work focused on feeding the community during the peak of the pandemic in 2020. Bilal helped coordinate food for 40,000-50,000 people weekly in the Jackson-Metro area. During the initial period of mandatory pandemic government shutdowns, many disadvantaged people fell through the cracks. Bilal helped rapidly coordinate over 8 tons of emergency food for young children were dependent on free public-school meals.

 

SXSW Pitch 2020

Consumer Technology & CPG
(One of Five Finalists)

Pepperdine: Most Fundable
Companies

2019 Finalist
(Top 35 of 3,500+)

Hero of the Year

February 2021

Bilal was awarded Hero of the Year award by the Central Mississippi Boys & Girls Club; for his dedicated work focused on feeding our community, further developing the partnership with Dole Sunshine for All program, and mentoring our youth.

 

Central Mississippi Boys & Girls Club Board of Directors

November 2020

Bilal has joined the Board of Directors of Central Mississippi Boys & Girls Club; as their youngest director.

 

Pepperdine B-School’s Most Fundable Companies 2020 Semi-Finalist

October 2020

We were among 100 semi-finalists from over 4,500 companies. Pepperdine will designate 15 as Most Fundable Companies

 

Survival Story

April to June 2020

The founder survived COVID-19, against long odds and after weeks in an Intensive Care Unit. He was one of the worst cases in Mississippi to survive. LA Wave Publication | The Guardian |Bloomberg | Quint

 

Recruited to the Mayor’s Emergency COVID-19 Taskforce

March 2020

Bilal was recruited to the City of Jackson’s Emergency COVID-19 Taskforce focused on coordinating mass food distributions leveraging city resources during the mandatory shutdowns. Bilal helped evaluate and coordinate sites for logistical flow to maximize food distribution efficiency.

 

Clarion Ledger’s March Community Hero

March 2020

Bilal Qizilbash, founder, was selected as a Community Hero for his years of weekly work feeding the poor of Jackson through his non-profit The Draw a Smile Foundation. Community Heroes highlights unsung heroes in the community.

 

Granted Lifetime Membership in the Mississippi Academy of Sciences

February 2020

Bilal Qizilbash, founder, was granted Lifetime Membership in the Mississippi Academy of Sciences for his cancer research, discoveries, and dedication to further scientific advancement focused on humanity.

 

 

SXSW Pitch Finalist in Consumer Technology & CPG

January 2020

We are one of five in Consumer Technology & CPG segment at SXSW Pitch. EasyKale is the first Mississippi company to be selected
for this competition. We will be at SXSW in Austin from March 13 to 18. From SXSW:

 

Chosen from a record-setting 900+ applications, this year’s finalists represent some of the most cutting-edge companies from around the world in the largest group of applications since SXSW Pitch’s beginning… 

“Now in our twelfth year of programming, we’ve become the premier competition for the hottest trends in tech representing the future,” said SXSW Pitch Event Producer Chris Valentine. “With our largest class of applicants yet, we’re pleased to see that SXSW Pitch continues to be a stage for the tech industry’s best and brightest to showcase their groundbreaking ideas and take their companies to the next level.”

 

Insider’s Pick by Business Insider

December 2019

We were selected and reviewed as an Insiders Picks by Business Insider.

 

EasyKale Win First Place at the New Venture Challenge by Innovate MS

October 3, 2019

We won first place in the Post-Revenue Division at this annual statewide competition.

 

Belhaven University Cancer Research Partnership

September 6, 2019

Belhaven University and EasyKale Labs executed an MOU for EasyKale cancer research to be continued at Belhaven, allowing Dr. Elizabeth Brandon and Bilal to continue to collaborate.

 

Pepperdine B-School’s Most Fundable Companies 2019 Finalist

August 2019

We were among 35 finalists from over, 3,500. Pepperdine will designate 15 as Most Fundable Companies

 

 

The Company Lab (co.lab) Consumer Goods Accelerator

June to August 2019

We were invited to participate in co.lab’s Consumer Goods Accelerator in Chattanooga, TN.

 

Liver Cells Cancer Discovery Announced

June 2019

At GES2019, EasyKale announced that Bilal and Dr. Brandon had discovered that juiced curly kale also kills liver cancer cells in vitro.

 

Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2019 (June 3-5, The Hague Netherland)

June 2019

At the invitation of the US State Department, EasyKale participated in GES. Co-hosted by the governments of the United States and the Netherlands, GES2019 convened 2000+ of the world’s top entrepreneurs, investors, private sector partners and policymakers. It is “…a unique opportunity for next-generation entrepreneurs to get global support, push their deals and share their vision on how to turn challenges into business opportunities.”

Princeton Entrepreneurs' Network: 2019 Startup Conference & Competition

May 2019

We were one of 20 companies selected to pitch at Princeton University on May 31; we identified leads.

Health Innovation & Transformation Forum

May 21, 2019

We presented at the 2nd Annual Health Innovation & Transformation Forum sponsored by The University of Mississippi Medical Center, along with Plug and Play and WeHealth by Servier, on May 21, 2019.

Global Health & Innovation Conference (GHIC) by Unite for Site

April 12-13, 2019

Bilal was one of 16 presenters of 1,500+ applicants at GHIC, his fifth appearance: “the world's leading and largest global health conference as well as the largest social entrepreneurship conference, with nearly 2,000 professionals and students from all 50 states and more than 55 countries.”

 

Amazon Launch

March 2019

We established our presence on Amazon with fulfillment by Amazon Prime and achieved Amazon’s Choice, Top Rated – Lowest Cost and Subscribe and Save. All but one of our first 30 reviews were 5-star.

 

Loop

May 2019

Loop is a circular shopping platform formed by TerraCycle and major CPG companies, that will use reusable packaging. Loop was announced in January 2019 at the Davos World Economic Forum. EasyKale participated in the launch event on May 21 st in New York. Loop appears likely to become a new distribution channel; as the only startup in this group of major CPG brands, we will gain visibility, credibility and partnership opportunities.

 

Delta iFund

May to August 2018

We were selected to participate in Delta i-Fund’s Accelerator in Memphis, TN.

 

Mississippi Food Network (MFN) Board of Directors

February 2019

Bilal has joined the Board of Directors of Mississippi Food Network; as their youngest director. We are drafting a proposal to use EasyKale to mitigate food deserts. MFN:

“distributes more than 1.5 million pounds of food and feeds more than 150,000 every month — or a total of 1.8 million people
per year. MFN takes donations from multiple sources, and distributes food and goods through 430 member agencies. They, in turn, distribute to recipients in their own communities…”

 

EasyKale Labs, LLC Formed and IP Assigned

February 2019

EasyKale Labs, LLC formed as a Mississippi LLC and intellectual property assigned by Bilal Qizilbash and Professor. Elisabeth Brandon, Ph.D. with compensation set at the first valuation of the patent used in the funding.

 

Kathleen Kobel Becomes Amazon Channel Manager

December 2018

Kathleen Kobel of Kobel Consulting became the contract manager of our Amazon Channel.

John Barksdale, Graphics and Packaging

December 2018

John joined us to provide graphics, design and packaging skills. HiTops Design

 

Foodboro Named EasyKale to its Must Watch List

November 2018

In November 2018, Foodboro named EasyKale as the sole Mississippi company on its “Must Watch List”. They “…set out to identify must-watch F&B makers in every state to watch, listen to, learn from, and hopefully, someday feast upon!”.

 

First Patent Issued

March 2018

On March 20 th , 2018, we had our first patent issued named “Product and method of deploying kale derivatives for anti-cancer effects”- Patent Number: 9919016

MiraKale Labs, LLC Formed

December 2017

MiraKale Labs, LLC formed, incorporated with Bilal Qizilbash and Rich Sun as members.