Carmelo Anthony Joins Silicon Valley Smart Kitchen Company As Investor and Advisor

SAN FRANCISCO, July 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Melo7 Tech Partners, LLC, the technology investment and development vehicle created by Carmelo Anthony, and Stuart Goldfarb is investing in San Francisco startup The Orange Chef Co. Both Anthony, with his off-the-court expertise in fitness, health, and marketing, and Goldfarb, with an extensive background in media and marketing, will become advisors to the company. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Anthony's and Goldfarb's strong interest in the company came after they met with the team a few weeks ago for a discussion of the company's vision and learned how they plan to introduce simple technology to help people cook smarter and eat better. They also received a demo of Prep Pad^TM, the smart nutrition scale.

"Nutrition is critical to my lifestyle," Anthony said. "Whether it's training in the off season or recovering after a game, I'm always trying to make sure my body gets the nutrition it needs to keep performing at a high level. Prep Pad makes it easier than ever to keep track of your diet in incredible detail, and learn where you may be falling short.  This kind of technology goes far beyond the professional athlete, and even the everyday athlete. It addresses the more pressing issue of the understanding the basics of nutrition."

"It goes without saying that Carmelo's level of athleticism, talent, and poise brings so much to our company and our brand," said Santiago Merea, CEO of The Orange Chef Co., "But what's most exciting is his enthusiasm and energy for what we are doing in the kitchen space, and how it will change lives for the better."

Prep Pad is the smart nutrition scale that makes it easy to understand, control, and enjoy the food you eat. Together with the free Countertop iOS app, Prep Pad gives you a simple breakdown of the carbs, fats, protein, and calories on your plate. This instant feedback helps you make the meal-time adjustments needed to meet your nutrition goals and improve your overall diet.

The Orange Chef Co. recently announced Prep Pad's integration with the Jawbone^TM UP^TM band. The first of its kind integration brings nutrition and fitness tracking together, allowing Prep Pad users to get customized meal recommendations based on their activities logged via UP. The integration also automatically logs meals built with Prep Pad into a user's UP feed, giving them an unprecedented view of how their personal nutrition factors into their everyday movement.

The Orange Chef Co. previously raised $3 million in seed funding led by Google Ventures, SparkLabs Global, along with New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and other key angel investors.

About The Orange Chef Co.

The Orange Chef Co. is creating a smart ecosystem for the kitchen, one product at a time. Widely regarded as leaders of the connected kitchen category, all products are designed with an emphasis on simple design, maintaining the craft of cooking, and using local and sustainable materials. Established in 2011, The Orange Chef Co. is privately held and headquartered in San Francisco. All products are currently available from Williams-Sonoma stores nationwide and online at theorangechef.com.

About Melo7 Tech Partners, LLC

Melo7 Tech Partners was founded by Carmelo Anthony and Stuart Goldfarb to invest in and develop opportunities in early stage digital media, consumer internet and technology ventures. The partnership leverages the complementary strengths of both of its principals. Melo7 Tech Partners is based in New York City.

Seven time NBA All Star, two time Olympic gold medalist, Carmelo Anthony has built a renowned global brand over the past decade utilizing his strong business intuition, hands-on approach and authentic connection with his fans. With over five million followers on Twitter, Anthony understood early on how to become a leader in engaging social media. 

Stuart Goldfarb has been a known innovator in media and marketing throughout his career. As NBC's Executive Vice President, he was responsible for creating visionary partnerships that resulted in the formation of the National Geographic Channel as well as Ralph Lauren's polo.com.  At Bertelsmann, he built and managed the world's largest direct marketer of music, video and books over a ten-year period.

SOURCE The Orange Chef Company