College is often characterized as a time in student lives when eating less than healthy food becomes a normal occurrence. Although this may be true for some, at Northeastern, three D'Amore-McKim student-led ventures are changing the status quo when it comes to quick, delicious food options anywhere on, or off, campus.

Recently featured in the Boston Globe's “Meet Boston's new crop of cool startups,” MyonCampus ChefHyluxand Cookin, highlight the interest students have in taking charge of their eating habits with health, simplicity and low cost in mind.

MyonCampus Chef, founded by Gianmarco Di Pino, DMSB'17 and Nikhilesh More, DMSB'16, is a peer-to-peer platform that connects aspiring students chefs with other students, often from different universities in the area, who also desire to taste authentic home-cooked dinners cuisine and meet new people.

The startup won “audience favorite” at the 2015 Husky Startup Challenge Demo Day.

“The high demand of students from different universities to meet new people through a food-based community is our key driver,” said Di Pino. “Our next steps are to beta test the platform and be fully functional before September. From that point on, we want to reach every single college campus in Boston and Cambridge. In two words “expansion and consolidation.”

So far, MyonCampus Chef has hosted 10 dinners, featuring food from seven different countries, in addition to organizing two cooking collaboration challenges with other institutions in the area. 

Hylux, created by Lamar Letts, DMSB'17, is a sports drink infused with hydrating electrolytes and vitamins. With less sugar than Gatorade, Hylux is being touted as the healthy alternative to typical sports drink. It's available in flavors like berry mix, lemon lime and strawberry kiwi, and located across Boston gyms and health clubs, as well as Northeastern's on-campus grocery store Wollastons.

Cookin, previously known as Mealtime, is in the process of building an app that will provide easy-to-make recipes and short shopping lists for young cooks. One grocery list makes three, two portion meals with little to no waste in 30 minutes or less. With simplicity, health, and taste in mind, founder Connor Russo, DMSB'17, hopes to change the way many of his fellow students' view cooking for themselves.

Both Hylux and Cookin are IDEA ventures, the University's student-led venture accelerator.

Read more about these ventures and other local start-ups at The Boston Globe.