NEW ORLEANS – Thrivvy, a Northshore startup reinventing how food and beverage companies gain real-time visibility into store-level pricing, promotions, and execution, is led by founder Vincenzo “Cenzo” Caronna, who is also helping grow the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem as executive director of STartUP Northshore.
A bioengineer turned entrepreneur, Caronna brings both technical expertise and a passion for community impact to his work building a support network for early-stage founders.
Thrivvy began as a consumer shopping app that compared grocery prices across multiple stores—“like a Kayak or Expedia for grocery shopping”—to bring transparency and affordability to consumers. Over the past year, it has transformed into a retail intelligence platform for emerging consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands and grocery retailers, delivering real-time, store-level insights to detect out-of-stocks, pricing violations, and missed promotions before they appear in weeks-old sales reports. The shift applies the company’s original focus on transparency to the retail side, helping brands and grocers monitor compliance, assess promotions, and make faster, more informed decisions at the shelf.
This next chapter for Thrivvy was unveiled at the Founder Institute Louisiana Demo Day at Nieux Society in New Orleans, marking a new phase in the company’s mission to bring greater transparency and efficiency to grocery retail.
Caronna’s role with STartUP Northshore
Caronna’s leadership extends beyond Thrivvy. Through STartUP Northshore, he leads programs such as THE LAUNCHPAD, NSpire Startup Slam, and IDEAinstitute Northshore, designed to connect entrepreneurs with mentorship, capital, and exposure.
STartUP Northshore is an entrepreneurship initiative created and led by the St. Tammany Economic Development Corporation to build and support a regional startup ecosystem across St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, and Washington parishes.
“Three years ago, STartUP Northshore launched with a bold ambition to build a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem across our three parishes,” said Chris Masingill, the corporation’s CEO since 2018, who recently announced he will step down to become President & CEO of Louisiana Central. “What began as a pilot has become a powerful movement that is enhancing our economy and creating new pathways for innovators and doers. We are ready to build the next chapter: one that empowers more founders, fuels more innovation, and sets a new standard for entrepreneurship across the Gulf South.”
Partnerships in Innovation and Growth
That ecosystem is built on a web of partnerships, including:
- The Idea Village serves as anchor accelerator partner, delivering a regionally localized version of its 10-week IDEAinstitute program with structured curriculum, expert mentorship, and access to a broad network of resources.
- Gulf South Angels plays a complementary role, partnering on pitch events such as THE LAUNCHPAD to provide investor perspectives, connect founders to early-stage capital, and help close funding gaps for entrepreneurs outside traditional tech hubs.
The results are beginning to show. One success story is Kinkz, founded by Alana Scott. “When she started, Alana didn’t consider herself an entrepreneur,” said Caronna. “Through IDEAinstitute Northshore, she gained foundational startup knowledge and leaned into building her company. She later returned to win the inaugural NSpire Startup Slam, earning over $60,000 in funding and services. From there, she was selected for VILLAGEx, The Idea Village’s accelerator for venture-scale startups. Today, she’s a mentor, pitch judge, and speaker, paying it forward by helping early-stage founders gain the confidence and clarity to launch.”
Caronna describes this as the beginning of a virtuous cycle. “We’re building a cycle of support across every stage of entrepreneurship,” he said.
Upcoming initiatives include:
- the fall IDEAinstitute Northshore cohort where applications are currently being accepted;
- a fourth New Orleans Entrepreneur Week partner event; and
- the third annual NSpire Startup Slam.
For Caronna, the goal is clear: to make the Northshore a destination for venture-ready companies and a place where founders can turn ideas into thriving businesses—including his own venture, Thrivvy.
