Unilever Ventures Backs Sun Basket, Leading Series C-2 Funding

SAN FRANCISCO, May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sun Basket, the leading healthy, organic meal kit service delivering the highest quality organic and non-GMO ingredients, as well as delicious, easy-to-make recipes weekly to your door, today announced its Series C-2 funding, led by Unilever Ventures, the venture capital and private equity arm of Unilever, along with Baseline Ventures and Founders Circle Capital. The $9.2M Series C-2 investment increases Sun Basket's Series C to $24.2M, as the Company raised $15M in Q1.

Having grown sales 1,300% in 2016 and added $124 million in new annual revenue run rate (ARR) since Labor Day 2016, the new funds raised will help Sun Basket to scale nationally. The funding coincides with the launch of Sun Basket's Midwest facility, which combined with Sun Basket's West and East Coast facilities, allows Sun Basket to provide organic meals to 98 percent of the U.S., reaching more zip codes than any grocery store and creating the largest distribution footprint of any direct-to-consumer organic food distributor in the United States.

"Having reviewed a large number of meal kit players in the United States, we have been really impressed by Sun Basket's extremely fast growth and category leading customer retention rates," said Olivier Garel, Head of Unilever Ventures. "Over a relatively short period of time, Sun Basket has built a clear leadership position as the best healthy, organic meals service platform, addressing consumers' growing demand for healthy, tasty, diet-specific but convenient solutions. That, coupled with Sun Basket's values and commitment to sustainability made it a natural fit into the Unilever Ventures family."

"We're proud of the growth Sun Basket has achieved over the last year. This investment further validates that we're on the right track," said Adam Zbar, CEO and Co-Founder of Sun Basket. "Being backed by a global venture firm, like Unilever Ventures, will help accelerate our product and user acquisition roadmap by leveraging their unrivaled expertise in CPG marketing, distribution, and logistics. We're excited to partner with Unilever Ventures to realize our mission to fundamentally improve people's health by providing an easier and more delicious way to cook."

In total, Sun Basket has raised $52M. The Sun Basket C-1 and C-2 investors and growth partners include: Unilever Ventures, Baseline Ventures, PivotNorth Capital, Accolade Partners, Founders Circle Capital, Sapphire Ventures, Shea Ventures, Relevance Capital, Vulcan Capital, Filter 14, and Silicon Valley Bank.

For more information about Sun Basket, please visit www.sunbasket.com.

About Sun Basket

Founded in San Francisco in 2014 by Webby-winner Adam Zbar and Chef Justine Kelly, the former Head Chef at the Slanted Door, a James Beard Award-winning restaurant, Sun Basket is an innovative healthy cooking service, which delivers the best organic, pre-measured ingredients and easy-to-cook, delicious recipes weekly to your door. Sun Basket saves busy people the time of planning and shopping so they can focus on the fun part of cooking and enjoying the meal. Personalized for your lifestyle and diet, Sun Basket provides a seasonally inspired Chef's Basket, along with Gluten-Free, Paleo and Vegetarian meal options. Located in San Francisco, Sun Basket is backed by top-tier venture capitalists including the investor behind Instagram. Celebrity Chef Tyler Florence acts as Culinary Co-Founder, and is joined by COO/Board Member Don Barnett, Co-Founder of organicgirl produce. For more information, please visit https://sunbasket.com or find the brand on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest or Twitter.

About Unilever Ventures

Unilever Ventures is the venture capital and private equity arm of Unilever. They invest in early stage, promising companies, accelerating growth by providing access to Unilever's global ecosystem, assets and expertise. The fund looks to invest in tomorrow's world-beaters in Personal Care and eCommerce and Digital Transformation. Unilever Venture's existing investments include Instacart, Clavis Insight, Blis, Gousto, Illuminage, Mirriad, Big Sync Music, Froosh, Nutrafol, and Blow. For further information, please visit: www.unileverventures.com

SOURCE Sun Basket

Related Links

http://www.sunbasket.com