Hungryroot, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to power its personalized online grocery service, announced today that it has raised a $40 million Series C round of funding led by the Growth Fund of L Catterton. This brings the total amount of funding raised by Hungryroot to $75.4 million.
Hungryroot is a little different from other online grocers in that it uses machine learning and predictive modeling to fill a customer’s cart. When customers first use Hungryroot, they take a quiz to tell the service their food and taste preferences. Hungryroot then runs that data through its algorithms to pre-fill the online cart with groceries and recipes it thinks the customer will like. Customers, however are free to remove and add items a la carte. Items are boxed up and shipped to the customer, starting at $59 per delivery.
It’s been a big funding year for grocery related startups, as just about any company related to getting you food has picked up fresh capital this year. Other mail-order grocery services that have received funding this year include Misfits Market ($200M), Imperfect Produce ($110M), and Weee! ($310M).
A big reason for this rash of funding, of course, is that the pandemic pushed people into online grocery shopping and that behavior appears to be sticking with consumers. Coresight Research reported that more than one-third of online grocery shoppers don’t plan on changing up their online grocery shopping habits once the pandemic ends. And according to Brick Meets Click, U.S. online grocery sales in April of this year were $8.4 billion, up from $7.2 billion year-over-year.
In its press announcement today, Hungryroot said that it has been profitable since the beginning of 2020 and is on track to reach $175 million in revenue this year. The company also forecasts more than $300 million in revenue in 2022. The company said that it will use its new funding to increase the number of groceries it carries, recipes offered and will invest in automation technology.
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