FRESHLY.com, A New Gourmet Meal Delivery Program, Closes Series A Funding Of $7 Million

NEW YORK, July 16, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- FRESHLY, the leading gourmet meal delivery company that ships healthy, ready-made meals to your doorstep each week, today announced the close of a Series A financing round of $7 million. This investment round was led by Highland Capital Partners and includes other investors White Star Capital and Jason Finger (co-founder of Seamless). BrandProject, which partnered with FRESHLY to launch the business, led the previous seed investments. As part of the funding Bob Davis, General Partner at Highland Capital, will join Andrew Black (CEO of BrandProject) on FRESHLY's Board of Directors.

FRESHLY, launched in January 2015 by health-focused entrepreneurs Michael Wystrach and Carter Comstock, already serves nine western states, has shipped more than 200,000 meals in its first five months and is on pace to ship more than 1 million meals by the end of 2015. The capital provided by this investment round will fuel FRESHLY's expansion throughout the United States, including state-of-the-art production and logistics facilities. The company plans to begin serving the east coast as soon as September of this year, enabling FRESHLY to ship to 80% of the country by year-end.

"Since FRESHLY's launch, the brand has quickly grown a very loyal and dedicated customer following," says Michael Wystrach, co-founder of FRESHLY. "With the explosion of meal delivery services, we take pride in delivering delicious gourmet meals that use all-natural ingredients that are locally sourced as often as possible and free of gluten, artificial sweeteners, added sugars and hormones. At FRESHLY, we provide consumers with convenient, fresh, and healthy meals."

The prepared-food delivery industry has boomed in the last year due to an ongoing evolution in the technology space coupled with a shift in consumer lifestyle and diet. With the undeniable proliferation of smartphones and apps offering convenience, availability and luxury at your fingertip, on-demand food delivery is on the rise, with companies looking to quickly grow and expand their offerings and availability.

"Highland has long partnered with founding teams that build vertically integrated brands to disrupt the industries they serve," said Bob Davis, General Partner with Highland. "From their first days FRESHLY's exceptional kitchens and proprietary packaging have propelled them into a market leading position for on-demand gourmet meals. With the recent relocation of the headquarters to New York and planned expansion of additional distribution centers, FRESHLY's unique approach to convenient, fresh, and affordable meals will be available to millions of health conscious people at home and work."

About FRESHLY:
FRESHLY is a ready-made meal delivery service focused on making healthy eating easier than ever by delivering high-quality, professionally-prepared, affordable meals straight to your doorstep. FRESHLY's team of experienced chefs utilize locally-sourced and all natural ingredients to create fresh, gourmet, ready-to-eat meals that are designed to optimize health. Each gourmet meal is carefully curated with ingredients that are high in protein, low in carbs and free of gluten, added sugar, artificial sweeteners and hormones. In addition to providing free overnight and two-day shipping options, FRESHLY uses advanced packaging technology to ensure that meals maintain freshness in transit. FRESHLY backs each and every order with a 100% customer satisfaction guarantee. For more information,  visit www.freshly.com.  

About Highland Capital Partners:
Founded in 1988, Highland Capital Partners is a global venture capital firm focused on putting the entrepreneur first. With offices in Palo Alto, Boston, and Shanghai, Highland has raised over $3 billion in committed capital and invested in more than 225 companies, resulting in category-defining businesses across consumer and enterprise technology. Investments include 2U, Bitnet, Bromium, Handy, LevelUp, Malwarebytes, Qihoo 360, Rent the Runway, ShiftCars, SmartThings, ThredUP and VMTurbo. For more information, visit www.hcp.com.

About BrandProject:
With its team of seasoned entrepreneurs based in New York City and Toronto, BrandProject rapidly scales early-stage consumer businesses with Founders. BrandProject takes a strategic approach to building solid foundations, focusing on key business building pillars, and provide the financial and operational resources to build early-stage companies as quickly and successfully as possible. Investments include Awake Chocolate, Rumble Supershake, Eve Snow London, Chef's Plate, The Coveteur, Surf Easy, Hello Products and BRIKA. For more information, visit www.brandproject.com.

About White Star Capital:
White Star Capital is an early-stage Venture Capital firm investing in exceptional entrepreneurs who are building the iconic companies of tomorrow. The firm has offices in London, New York and Montreal and a team with deep operational expertise.  Its model is to partner closely with great teams and help them scale globally. Previous investments include Dollar Shave Club, mnubo, Betaworks and Science. For more information, visit: www.whitestar.vc.

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