SANTA BARBARA, Calif., April 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brett Matthews of Kate Farms, the #1 recommended plant-based formula prescribed to deliver vital medical nutrition to those most in need, announced today the company has closed its $23MM Series A-1 financing round, bringing total raise to date to $48MM. Kate Farms will use the funds for accelerated growth, additional hiring and continued innovation as the company continues to drive change and clinically better outcomes in the medical nutrition space through its higher standard, plant-based formulas.
The round was led by a personal investment from David Roux, Co-Founder of Silver Lake. Other individual investors include John Hammergren, former Chairman and CEO of McKesson, Gregg Engles, former Chairman and CEO of WhiteWave Foods, William Loomis, former CEO of Lazard, and Kristin Loomis, founder and Executive Director of HHV6 Foundation.
Each outside Kate Farms board member also invested in the Series A-1 round: Carol Ammon, registered nurse and longtime pharmaceutical CEO; Celeste Clark, Ph.D., registered dietitian, former board member of Mead Johnson and former Global Executive Management Team member at Kellogg's Global Nutrition; Jeff Jacobs, co-founder and former president of Harpo Entertainment; Pete Nicholas, founder and former chairman and CEO of Boston Scientific; and Robert Zollars, former president of Baxter International's U.S. distribution, former chairman of Diamond Foods and former EVP at Cardinal Health.
"As an early investor, I see some parallels between Kate Farms and Boston Scientific," said Mr. Nicholas. "By disrupting the medical device market, we ultimately created better patient outcomes. Likewise, Kate Farms, by bringing superior plant-based medical nutrition to the market, is disrupting what is basically a stagnant category—and driving great patient outcomes too. With this seasoned team and strong culture, I'm confident Kate Farms will continue to change patients' lives."
Global demand for plant-based alternatives is growing: the plant-based dairy category is expected to go from $21 billion in 2017 to $37.5 billion by 2024. Likewise, the meat alternative category is expected to grow from $4.6 billion in 2018 to $85 billion by 2030, according to UBS Investments1. The states of California2 and New York3 have recently passed legislation requiring hospitals and prisons to provide a plant-based meal option, and similar legislation is under review in several other states.
"While today it's much easier for consumers to find plant-based alternatives, whether at the grocery store or a fast-food outlet, the same options until recently have not been available to those who are medically compromised. Kate Farms is specially formulated to help those people with major medical conditions, who often rely on us for 100% of their nutritional intake, to not only improve their health but to be able to live their best life," said Mr. Matthews. "I am honored to be part of a team that partners with health care professionals and patients to support them in their overall care and to help them navigate insurance coverage. We lead with our hearts and expertise and are committed to caring for people. Together, we will serve the millions and millions of people with chronic diseases and help them thrive."
ABOUT KATE FARMS
Kate Farms was founded in 2011 when a little girl named Kate Laver was failing to thrive because she couldn't tolerate any of the available tube feeding formulas. Her determined parents, Richard and Michelle, had the transformative idea to develop a better formula using the highest-quality, organic, plant-based ingredients without the synthetic ingredients and common allergens found in traditional formulas. Today Kate is a thriving teenager. Entrepreneur Brett Matthews met Richard, Michelle and Katie in 2014. Brett knew first hand, due to his own son's medical condition, how plant-based nutrition can help to heal people with medical conditions. Matthews invested and joined Kate Farms as Chairman and later became CEO to build the team and lead the company into the medical channel. Kate Farms is now the #1 Prescribed and Recommended Plant Based Formula in the country. Kate Farms serves patients at many of the leading adult and children's hospitals across the country are widely covered by Medicare, Medicaid and more than 2,000 private insurance plans as well as a growing number of WIC plans and also through Home Care. Kate Farms also serves people with other medical conditions, who cannot get a prescription, via katefarms.com. To learn more about Kate Farms visit: www.katefarms.com
For more information, visit www.katefarms.com or follow the company on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
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Errin Cecilsmith
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SOURCE Kate Farms
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