Everytable, a mission-driven food company that fights for food justice by making fresh, delicious food accessible and affordable for all, announced today the closing of a $16 million Series B funding round. The round was led by Creadev, an investment company with a long tradition of partnering with entrepreneurs to build world-changing companies.
Joining Creadev in the round is Kaiser Permanente Ventures, the venture capital arm of Kaiser Permanente, making its first investment in a fresh-prepared food company to support community health. Kaiser Permanente has a longstanding commitment to improving access to healthy, affordable food to address food insecurity in its communities. In the wake of the health and economic crisis fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, the organization has redoubled its efforts to address food insecurity. Other investors in the round include Candide Group, Gratitude Railroad Ventures, Desert Bloom Food Ventures, and Kimball Musk.
Everytable will use the investment to accelerate growth throughout Southern California through new grab-and-go stores, institutional food service partnerships, and the expansion of its subscription delivery service. The company is laying the foundation for expansion into its first market beyond Los Angeles and across the country.
“This new funding marks a significant milestone in our next phase of strategic growth and will help Everytable take the next step towards creating a more just and equitable society,” says Sam Polk, CEO and founder of Everytable. “Creadev, along with new and existing investors, shares our mission and passion to transform America’s food system to ensure that everyone has access to affordable and nutritious food. Nutritious food should not be a luxury afforded to few.”
“Sam and his team are fundamentally driven by the significant impact Everytable can have in making healthy food accessible to everyone, everywhere,” says Delphine Descamps, US Managing Director for Creadev. “We are thrilled to support with other like-minded investors this ambitious vision to re-invent traditional fast food, based on a sustainable and scalable business model.”
The funding comes on the heels of the company’s exponential growth since its founding in 2016. Everytable started as a revolutionary grab-and-go restaurant concept with delicious, made-from-scratch meals priced according to what a specific neighborhood can afford. Today the company is a multi-channel food business, fueled by a central kitchen, that specializes in individually packaged, chef-prepared meals starting at just $5.00.
“Everytable impressed us with their commitment to making healthy eating affordable, accessible and enticing, and doing it at scale,” adds Liz Rockett, director, Kaiser Permanente Ventures. “We know that ‘food deserts’ can render whole communities vulnerable to poor health outcomes. Organizations like Everytable are critical to the health of our communities, and we are excited to have the opportunity to help them grow.”
Everytable’s mission to make nutritious meals accessible to everyone became more important than ever at the start of the pandemic. Pivoting quickly, the company redeployed from its retail operation towards emergency food relief efforts creating a model that can change the way America addresses food insecurity in years to come. Together with major partners like The City of Los Angeles, The Department of Aging, Santa Monica College, and Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, Everytable has provided more than 4 million healthy meals to Los Angeles’ most vulnerable including housebound seniors, homeless, food insecure college students, and other marginalized individuals. In a matter of weeks, Everytable was able to drastically and successfully scale meal production from 30,000 per week to more than 180,000 meals per week, setting the stage for accelerated growth in the region and beyond.
The social enterprise also recently announced the launch of a pioneering social equity franchise program to foster economic empowerment among entrepreneurs from marginalized communities. Serving as a model approach to franchising, a system largely devoid of diversity and representation by people of color, the new program will provide critical access to capital for qualifying graduates plus in-depth, hands-on training to empower and prepare disenfranchised entrepreneurs to open Everytable restaurants in their own communities. With a combined $4.5 million in program-related investments from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Annenberg Foundation, The California Wellness Foundation (Cal Wellness), and Dignity Health, Everytable aims to open 50 franchised locations within the next three years.
