The pandemic has made it easier to sit on the couch and order in without any guilt. But sometimes you want an elevated dining experience not found on Seamless or Uber Eats without having to go out to eat. CookUnity, founded in Brooklyn in 2018, brings gourmet meals from top and rising chefs in the culinary world to your home. Structured as a weekly subscription delivery service, the company offers over 300 meal options that start at a very reasonable $10.49 per meal. With the restaurant industry severely disrupted with lockdowns and fighting for survival, the service has been able to provide chefs much-needed income, expand their followings, and avoid onerous and debilitating fees of the traditional food delivery apps. In fact, top chefs on the platform are earning in excess of $1M per year on the platform.
AlleyWatch caught up with CookUnity Founder and CEO Mateo Marietti to learn more about the company’s progress during the pandemic (the company grew 6.5x YOY), national expansion plans, restaurant recommendations, recent fundraise, which brings the total funding raised to $70.4M, and much, much more.
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
It was a $47 million Series B funding round. The round was led by New York-based global private equity and venture capital investor Insight Partners with Endeavor Capital and current investors IDCV, Fuel Ventures, and Gaingels joining the round.
Tell us about the product or service that CookUnity offers.
CookUnity is a new, first of its kind, chef-to-consumer platform. It is democratizing the ready-to-eat meal category with a chef-powered business model that offers consumers elevated, restaurant-quality meals at home while also being an ally and partner to chefs with a first-of-its-kind technology and operational infrastructure. With the tools and resources to diversify and create a scalable, digital-first business, best-selling chefs on the platform are earning upwards of $1M a year.
Through a weekly subscription, consumers choose from hundreds of meals handcrafted by talented chefs, tailored to satisfy different palates and dietary preferences. Starting at $10.49/meal, CookUnity provides an effortless way for consumers to experience fully prepared restaurant-quality meals from the comfort and convenience of their homes, every day.
What inspired the start of CookUnity?
CookUnity was founded on two ideas; to bring consumers an elevated, chef-prepared experience in their home and give independent chefs an opportunity to share their passion for cooking beyond the confines of a restaurant kitchen and lifestyle – enabling them to scale and grow beyond those four walls.
There was also nothing out there that solved the historical need for great-tasting food, quality nutrition , and convenience, all at a price that allows the average customer to utilize the service every day. Customers needed a more modern solution for the daily meal.
We wanted to create something that brought people together and connected communities through food, and I wanted to work with diverse chef talent and creators to offer a variety of cuisines that represent each community uniquely. From that came CookUnity.
How is CookUnity different?
CookUnity is revolutionizing the food delivery category and how consumers experience elevated meals at home, and at the same time, is an ally and partner to chefs.
Consumers can have some of the best-known chefs in the country or talented rising stars cook their food. For chefs, CookUnity’s model enables them to deliver restaurant-quality food to customers in a way that’s operationally manageable and aligns with business goals. Restaurants are often very costly to operate, so CookUnity gives chefs an alternative option to share their recipes with customers. Any talented and passionate chef can start their own business without any risk. The growth opportunities are exponential.
Additionally, unlike any other service, CookUnity chefs and their teams create and prepare each dish so that with every meal, consumers experience quality ingredients hand-selected by each chef, and curated recipes that feature the chefs’ unique culinary approach.
What market does CookUnity target and how big is it?
CookUnity is intended for food lovers and people looking for elevated, prepared meals with the same quality and taste you receive in restaurants. Our ready-to-eat meals are ideal for really anyone, anywhere — at home, the office, or on the road. Given our wide variety of cuisines and meal types, we find that our menu appeals to everyone from single professionals to young families and even empty nesters.
What’s your business model?
CookUnity is a revenue-sharing model with chefs. The unique marketplace model offers up-and-coming chefs, alongside established restaurateurs and food innovators, the tools and resources to diversify and create a digital-first business. Unlike any prepared meal subscription service, we are building a marketplace that supports both creator (chef) and consumer, equally. The key insight for us is that food is not a one size fits all experience and customers seek variety and personalized food options.
How has COVID-19 impacted the business??
CookUnity has grown 6.5X and we’re forecasting an even more significant year ahead with continued talent and market expansion. Not only did our demand (weekly subscribers) increase, but we also saw tremendous growth in supply (our chef talent pool.)
As the country reopens, the convenience CookUnity offers remains in high demand — chef-quality dishes, at home, with no cooking or defrosting. CookUnity is the solution to anyone looking for help with at-home or at-work eating where they don’t have to compromise between time, cost, taste, nutrition, and everyday access to a variety of different cuisines and chefs.
What was the funding process like?
The funding process was very exciting as we were fortunate enough to build a new relationship with Insight Partners as well as receive a lot of support from existing investors like Fuel Venture Capital. We felt that Insight Partners truly understood our vision and the timing was right.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
When we started fundraising for this round we had only one kitchen in NYC serving the Northeast, and some investors were excited about the trajectory but wanted to see how this model performed in other regions. We launched Los Angeles and in three months reached the volume that took New York three years to reach and that removed that concern.
What factors about your business led your investors to write the check?
Investors liked how big the TAM for food is, and how unique our marketplace of chefs, angle is. It solves some of the tradeoffs food businesses present to consumers between convenience, quality, health or variety. At series B you are already past product-market fit and past proving acquisition at scale and our growth and retention are best in class. But what made investors truly click with our business was talking to the chefs and understanding how powerful a new model that supports the food creators can be.
Investors liked how big the TAM for food is, and how unique our marketplace of chefs, angle is. It solves some of the tradeoffs food businesses present to consumers between convenience, quality, health or variety. At series B you are already past product-market fit and past proving acquisition at scale and our growth and retention are best in class. But what made investors truly click with our business was talking to the chefs and understanding how powerful a new model that supports the food creators can be.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
Opening additional CookUnity kitchens in Atlanta, Miami and Seattle, and expanding our consumer reach nationwide. These new kitchens will allow CookUnity to service 88% of the U.S. population. We will also increase our culinary talent pool through scaled onboarding of more notable chefs, rising stars, and established restaurateurs from across the country.
What advice can you offer companies in New York that do not have a fresh injection of capital in the bank?
It really depends on the stage but there is A LOT a team can do even with limited capital. There has never been a better time to innovate and start a new concept. The ecosystem is pretty sophisticated and if you prove that you find a superior way to solve a big enough problem, capital will come. Focus on that.
Where do you see the company going now over the near term?
Our focus this year is to expand nationally and onboard as many talented and passionate chefs as possible, develop their brand, and generate a multitude of sales with them. As a consequence of that, the offering for our customers will be constantly evolving.
What’s your favorite outdoor dining restaurant in NYC?
All of our chef partners that own restaurants have amazing outdoor spaces and more importantly, incredible food. Marc Forgione’s Restaurant Marc Forgione, Einat Admony’s Taïm, Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s Jean-Georges and ABC Kitchen, Esther Choi’s mokbar, and Akhtar Nawab’s Alta Calidad.
