- Hungry Marketplace, a company that links independent chefs to companies looking for catering, announced it raised $20 million
Hungry Marketplace, a company that links independent chefs to companies that are looking for catering, announced it secured $20 million in a new round of funding. This round of funding was led by Evolution VC Partners and former Whole Foods co-CEO Walter Robb. Actor Kevin Hart, rapper Jay-Z, and several NFL players also joined the round. This round of funding gave Hungry Marketplace a valuation of over $100 million.
Including this round of funding, the company has raised a total of $32.6 million. Last year, Hungry Marketplace had raised an $8 million Series A round. That round was led by Motley Fool Ventures and Sands Capital Ventures. Marcy Venture Partners (the investment firm launched by Jay-Z, Jay Brown, and Larry Marcus) and singer Usher also joined that round.
In an interview with Crunchbase News, Hungry Marketplace co-founder and COO Eman Pahlavani said Usher’s mother runs a commercial kitchen in Atlanta and told the singer about the company.
“The idea is chefs don’t like to do delivery, they don’t like to leave the kitchen and deliver food,” said Pahlavani via Crunchbase. “Hungry takes care of the delivery, the customer acquisition costs.”
Since Hungry does not own or operate the kitchens, the business model is capital-efficient. And the chefs are independent contractors.
Currently, Hungry Marketplace operates out of 6 cities. Austin, Texas was the latest city to be added and the company is planning to expand in Dallas next. By 2021, the company is expected to be available in 23 markets.
Currently Hungry serves over 500 companies across the country and its revenue jumped over 300% year-over-year. Last year, the company hit a $20 million revenue run rate and it is expected to hit $50 million by the end of this year.
The gross revenue for the chefs ranged between $20,000 and $50,000 per month. And the chefs typically take home over 50% of that figure.
