Business
As meal-kit melee stretches on, Sun Basket whips up $30M Series E
Sun Basket, a provider of a healthy meal kit delivery service, has raised another $30 million in venture capital funding. The round, led by PivotNorth Capital, brings the company’s total raised to $125 million.
The Series E funding delays Sun Basket’s expected initial public offering once again. There’s been unsubstantiated talk of a Sun Basket float for quite some time; in fact, before Blue Apron and Hello Fresh, a pair of fellow meal-kit delivery businesses, completed IPOs, Sun Basket was the subject of exit rumors. Alas, we will have to wait a while longer before the company makes the big leap.
After all, Blue Apron has performed very poorly since going public on the New York Stock Exchange two years ago. Sun Basket chief executive Adam Zbar has been honest about the difficulties of running a meal-kit startup in a post-Blue Apron IPO universe, telling PitchBook his company’s Series D round “was by far the most challenging fundraise” in its history.
Sun Basket, headquartered in San Francisco, was founded in 2014 by Webby Award winner Zbar and award-winning chef Justine Kelly . The company delivers fresh, organic and sustainable ingredients to customers, setting itself apart from the large number of meal-kit providers active in the U.S. Its latest infusion of capital will be used to expand their offerings to include breakfast, lunch and dinner “personalized for any lifestyle.”
“We’re thrilled to have the strong support of our investors who share our vision for building the leading personalized healthy eating platform,” Zbar said in a statement. “Food is a $1T market ripe for online disruption, and Sun Basket will continue to innovate, focusing on our customers’ top three needs: health, ease, and personalization.”
Sun Basket says it’s growing fast. In its funding announcement, the business cited a compound annual growth rate of 80% over the last three years with “the best unit economics in the space.” Sapphire Ventures, August Capital, Founders Circle, Unilever Ventures, Baseline Ventures, Relevance Capital, Accolade Partners and Correlation Ventures have also participated in the round.
Despite known issues in the space, a tough path to profitability and high-profile failures (see After raising $125M, Munchery fails to deliver), venture capital investors continue to make deals in the meal-kit/ food-delivery space. From large financings like DoorDash’s $400 million Series F to GrubMarket’s recent $25 million deal, food startups continue to attract investment.
-
Business7 days ago
Langdock raises $3M with General Catalyst to help businesses avoid vendor lock-in with LLMs
-
Entertainment6 days ago
What Robert Durst did: Everything to know ahead of ‘The Jinx: Part 2’
-
Entertainment6 days ago
This nova is on the verge of exploding. You could see it any day now.
-
Business6 days ago
India’s election overshadowed by the rise of online misinformation
-
Business5 days ago
This camera trades pictures for AI poetry
-
Business6 days ago
CesiumAstro claims former exec spilled trade secrets to upstart competitor AnySignal
-
Business4 days ago
TikTok Shop expands its secondhand luxury fashion offering to the UK
-
Business5 days ago
Boston Dynamics unveils a new robot, controversy over MKBHD, and layoffs at Tesla