Daily Harvest reaches unicorn status with $1.1b valuation

Bloomberg

Daily Harvest, a company that specialises in frozen-food products, including ready-to-blend smoothies, is valued at $1.1 billion after its latest round of funding, said founder and Chief Executive Officer Rachel Drori.
The New York-based startup reached so-called unicorn status by raising $77 million in an equity-funding round led by Lone Pine Capital LLC that included participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, an existing investor, Drori said in an interview.
“Lone Pine understands our mission and sees the opportunity to shake up the entire food system,” Drori said. Greenwich, Connecticut-based Lone Pine has backed other consumer-focused companies, including salad chain Sweetgreen, luggage maker Away and Torchy’s Tacos, according to PitchBook data.
Daily Harvest, which ships frozen products including soups, latte pods, almond milk, plant-based ice cream and flatbreads directly to consumers, will spend a portion of its fresh funding
on new distribution channels, Drori said. In January, the company will open its first brick-and-mortar location in Chicago, which it describes as a “tasting room” experience.
“There was an acceleration in consumers’ willingness to buy food online during the pandemic,” said Drori, who acknowledged that much of the population still hasn’t adopted the habit. “We want to allow our customers to experience Daily Harvest wherever they are.”
Other companies including Chobani have opened retail locations, in part to build brand awareness. Founded in 2015 and launched the following year, Daily Harvest generated roughly $250 million of revenue last year. The company plans to invest further in its technology platform and expand its menu, which already includes more than 100 items for meals and snacks throughout the day. In January, the startup plans to add a “Harvest Bakes” collection of items that can be baked as an individual meal or side dish for a household, Drori said.
Daily Harvest says most of its ingredients are organic fruits and vegetables, and that its food doesn’t include any refined sugars, stabilisers or artificial additives. Freezing certain items on the same day they’re harvested leads to a higher retention of antioxidants than refrigerated options, according to its website.