Kettlebell Kitchen, a startup that delivers meals with a focus on fitness, announced yesterday that it has raised a $26.7 million Series B round of funding led by North Castle (h/t Food Bev media). This brings the total amount raised by Kettlebell to $30.4 million.
While there are plenty of meal kit companies who promise to help you eat more healthily, Kettlebell’s value proposition is that it customizes your meals based on your goals such as losing weight, gaining muscle or completing a marathon. Meal plans include Keto, Paleo and vegetarian options with dishes like “Bison Beef Sliders” and “Athlete Greek Chicken Meatball Bowl.”
What’s also interesting about Kettlebell is its distribution channel. In addition to sending meals directly to your home, Kettlebell also lets consumers pick up meals at participating gyms in the Northeast, Mid-West and Mid-Atlantic regions (for now). Kettlebell also recently took over meal delivery for Munchery’s East Coast customers.
As we’ve written about before, meal kits have been migrating away from mail order and into retail outlets. Kroger bought Home Chef. Albertsons bought Plated. Blue Apron started selling in Costco. Chef’d was leading the innovative charge when it comes to interesting distribution channels with deals with Byte Foods for sales in offices and drug stores like Duane Reade. And while its first incarnation shut down abruptly, the resurrected assets will focus on retail outlets.
Kettlebell’s gym distribution is a smart play. First, people who work out a lot are often goal-oriented, which fits in with Kettlebell’s core meal offerings. Most gyms already have retail sections and many gym goers are also big believers in getting their protein right after a workout. Since the meals are grab-and-go and only require a microwave for reheating, they offer a fast way for people to protein up.
Presumably, Kettlebell will use this influx of cash to scale out nationally. Now the question will be if sales will bulk up as well.
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