Meal kit delivery company Sun Basket raises $42.8m in new funding round

Food business news : California-based meal kit delivery company Sun Basket has raised $42.8 million in new funding through a Series D investment round led by venture capital firm August Capital in its efforts to become the “Netflix of Food”.

Sun Basket calls itself as a healthy meal kit service which provides its subscribed members across the United States with organic produce and sustainable ingredients with delicious, easy recipes every week to their door step.

Recently, the meal kit delivery company secured $15 million from Trinity Capital Investment as debt financing to take its total new funding to $57.8 million.

Tripp Jones – general partner of August Capital, commenting on the venture capital firm’s investment in the meal kit delivery company, said: “Sun Basket has achieved incredible growth and industry-leading unit economics in just a few years since launch.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Sun Basket in its next phase as the company continues to scale rapidly and build out its healthy personal choice platform, which has the power to disrupt the $650 billion grocery market by providing consumers a healthier, easier, and more personal way to cook and eat delicious food.”

A healthy meal kit service provider Sun Basket is a meal kit delivery company based in San Francisco, California., (Photo courtesy of PRNewsfoto/Sun Basket)

The Series D investment round of the meal kit service provider also included Sapphire Ventures, Accolade Partners, Rembrandt Venture Partners, Founders Circle, Vulcan Capital, Correlation Ventures and Relevance Capital and Unilever Ventures.

Sun Basket says that it will have the capacity to create a $1 billion business with a couple of new facilities slated to be launched in early part of this year.

The meal kit service provider claims to have achieved $250 million in annual revenue run rate at the start of Q1 2018 with its net revenue growing by more than 280% over the last 12 months.

Sun Basket says that what makes it stand out from its meal kit service peers is the fact that it focuses on tapping on customer data to provide a personal, healthy cooking experience.

Commenting on the new funding received by the meal kit delivery company, Adam Zbar – the CEO and co-founder of Sun Basket, said: “Over the past year, Sun Basket has grown immensely in customers served, products offered, team size, and overall sales.

“As we scale the business in 2018, we are excited to have August Capital on board, given its track record of helping numerous innovative companies grow while maintaining strong unit economics and great product quality.”

Sun Basket plans to use the new funding to further develop into a true foodtech company that offers customers wider choice and also for customizing their meal kits by using their transaction data, dietary requirements, and preferences.

The meal kit delivery company will be expanding its offerings by introducing Mediterranean, Vegan, and Pescatarian menu offerings. Sun Basket will also be opening new, larger distribution facilities on the East Coast and in the Midwest during the first quarter of this year for its meal kit services.