Today, French startup Feed raised €15 million ($17.4 million USD) from investors Alven, Otium Brands, and Financière Saint James. This recent raise brings their total funding to €18.5 million ($2.1 million).
Feed makes powdered drinks and bars for meal replacements in the vein of Soylent. All of Feed’s products are gluten-free, lactose-free, vegan, non-GMO, and made in France, and they contain enough fats, fiber, proteins, and other nutrients to act as a standalone meal. The company plans to use its new funds to add 25 to 30 more team members and expand their international reach into the U.S., according to La Tribune.
Founded in January of 2017, Feed originally made only powdered drinks intended to supplement or replace meals, and recently added meal-in-one bars to their lineup. A single-serving meal replacement drink from Feed retails for €2.40 ($2.78), which is on par with Soylent’s pricing. Feed currently sells their products in French supermarkets and online, and delivers to over 30 countries.
One of the more interesting aspects of Feed is that it has several savory shaken drink options — in tomato olive, mushroom, carrot and pumpkin, and garden vegetable flavors — which I haven’t seen before from any other meal supplement company. While it may seem off-putting to drink a salty blended shake, I imagine that these flavors would be a welcome shake-up (pun intended) to the typical vanilla/chocolate/coffee.
According to Research and Markets, the global meal replacement market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.83 percent from 2017-2021. And there’s no shortage of options on the market: Soylent just announced that it will retail in more than 1,850 Kroger stores (apparently recovering from last year’s obstacles of recalls, leadership changes, and getting banned in Canada). Bear Squeeze raised over $200,000 on IndieGoGo earlier this year for their meal-in-one health shakes (though as far as I can tell they have yet to ship), and Ample Foods closed a $2 million funding round a few months ago.
And that’s just in the U.S. In Europe, both Amsterdam-based Jimmy Joy and Huel in the U.K. make powdered meal replacements aimed at the busy, health-conscious consumer. Feed’s hefty fundraise signifies not only that these type of drinkable supplements aren’t going anywhere, but that there’s room for expansion — both geographically, and in the product lineup.
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