The New Meal-Kit on the Block Raises $3.7 Million

It is now nearly impossible to ignore meal-kit companies like Blue Apron and Hello Fresh, which continue to plaster subway cars with advertisements and encourage huge investments to start-up competitors. The latest is Hungryroot, a meal-kit delivery company that wants to fill several niches at once: healthy, vegetarian, and quick.

Hungryroot has raised $3.7 million in funding from Lightspeed Venture Partners, Crosslink Capital and others, justified by the success of their predecessors and their own rapid growth. Unlike Blue Apron, Hungryroot’s business model does not involve subscriptions; one-off meals are available to order on Amazon and the company plans to expand to Whole Foods soon. While some have questioned whether the meal-kit trend is a bubble waiting to burst, the success of any business is directly tied to its ability to stand out. In this sense, Hungryroot’s biggest selling point is its innovative recipes: brownies made from black beans which somehow taste like the real thing, and noodles made from sweet potato with a  “Creamy Cashew Alfredo” sauce.

While there’s no replacement for good old fashioned comfort food, there’s definitely a market for substitutes like this – especially if they’re easy to prepare. Look out for Hungryroot in your neighborhood Whole Foods soon.

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