Chefs Plate announces close of $10M in new funding and celebrates the delivery of 450K meals per month nationally

New Funds To Accelerate Growth in Canadian Meal Kit Market

TORONTO, Nov. 29, 2017 /CNW/ - Chefs Plate, Canada's leader in the booming meal kit delivery market, announces $10M in new funding that includes the close of its Series C round of financing from Acton Capital, Emil Capital, InvestEco Capital and Comerica Bank.

Today, Chefs Plate celebrates the milestone of delivering 450,000 meals per month as well as securing $20M in total funding since launching in Toronto in Nov. 2014. Funding is being used to invest in leading edge technology, recruitment of the country's brightest talent, and automation of the company's fulfillment centres in Toronto and Vancouver, as well as supporting its supply chain of Canadian farmers and artisanal suppliers.  

Since recently expanding into Quebec and the Maritimes, Chefs Plate is Canada's only national meal kit delivery service. It also proudly employs nearly 350 workers, marking a 300 per cent increase in its workforce within the last 12 months.

"Canadians love the convenience meal kits offer and we're proud to be Canada's number one choice. Our customer numbers have grown over 200 per cent over the past year and this month we'll deliver three times more meals than we did this time last year," said Jamie Shea, Co-Founder, Chefs Plate. "We make cooking easy and look forward to using the newly raised funds to meet the needs of our growing customer base."

	Q3 2016	Q3 2017	YoY
Active subscribers	25,000	76,000	204%
Meals per month	150,000	450,000	300%

"We invested in Chefs Plate because of its long-term strategy on making proper investments to scale the business in tandem with demand," said Hannes Blum, Venture Partner, Acton Capital. "We like the fact that Chefs Plate is creating a strong value proposition through focusing on delicious recipes, quality ingredients, continuous innovation and a convenient service. This strategic approach results in high customer retention and reduces the need for continuous discounting to retain customers."

Innovation is the cornerstone of Chefs Plate's business that includes ongoing strategic brand and culinary partnerships. Chefs Plate recently worked with Starbucks as well as top chef, Vikram Vij, to develop unique recipes. Additionally, Chefs Plate's partnership with Stella Artois provided the company the opportunity to work with Patrick Kriss -- a Michelin trained chef and owner of Alo, named best restaurant in the country by the 2017 Canada's 100 Best Restaurant list. Through the partnership, customers enjoyed a special hosting kit, #HostOneToRemember, complete with a Belgian-inspired recipe.

About Chefs Plate
Chefs Plate, Canada's leader in the meal-kit delivery market, provides pre-portioned, farm fresh ingredients with easy-to-follow recipes in refrigerated kits conveniently delivered right to customers' homes. It's cooking made easy. As a food-tech company, its innovative business model connects people to local farmers and purveyors, re-investing in Canada's farm-to-table platform. For more information, please visit www.chefsplate.com, or connect via social media on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

About Acton Capital Partners:
Acton Capital Partners (www.actoncapital.com) is a Munich-based growth venture fund for internet companies. It focuses on startups in the fields of marketplaces, e-commerce, e-services, digital media and SaaS. Acton invests in Europe and North America. The team has been working together successfully for many years and has invested in more than 65 companies since 1999. The most renowned investments include AbeBooks, Alando, AlphaSights, Ciao, Elitepartner, Etsy, HolidayCheck, Linas Matkasse, Lumas, mytheresa.com, OnVista and windeln.de. In addition to Chefs Plate, Acton is currently invested in Canadian companies Clio, Indochino and Mobify.

About Brand Project
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 provides the financial and operational resources to build early-stage companies as quickly and successfully as possible. For more information, visit www.brandproject.com.

About Emil Capital: 
Emil Capital is an entrepreneurial, private investment company based in Greenwich, Connecticut, and managed by the fifth generation of one of the world's most successful and venerable family business concerns. Emil seeks out companies whose goods or services are established and sought-after in their markets, and whose execution fosters consistently superior customer experiences.

InvestEco Capital
InvestEco is a venture capital firm that invests in expansion-stage private companies. It manages a series of funds including the InvestEco Sustainable Food Funds. InvestEco's goal is to generate a strong financial returns for investors by investing in companies that promote health and sustainability in the food and agricultural sector.

Comerica Bank
Comerica Bank, with locations in the key California markets of San Francisco and the East Bay, San Jose, Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Fresno, Sacramento, Santa Cruz/Monterey, and the Inland Empire, is a subsidiary of Comerica Incorporated (NYSE: CMA). Comerica is a financial services company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and strategically aligned into three major business segments: the Business Bank, the Retail Bank, and Wealth Management. Comerica focuses on relationships and helping businesses and people be successful.

SOURCE Chefs Plate

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