Plated is a technology company.
Plated has raised $56.0M across 4 funding rounds.
Key people at Plated.
Plated has raised $56.0M in total across 4 funding rounds.
Key people at Plated.
Plated has raised $56.0M in total across 4 funding rounds.
Plated's investors include Connecticut Innovations, Primetime Partners, ff Venture Capital, FJ Labs, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Mercury Fund, Seven Seven Six, Slow Ventures, SNR, Teamworthy Ventures, Y Combinator, David Chang.
Plated was a subscription-based meal kit delivery service that provided pre-portioned ingredients and chef-designed recipes for home cooking. It served busy consumers seeking convenient, high-quality meals without shopping or meal planning hassles, solving the problem of time-consuming food preparation while promoting gourmet home dining for all skill levels.[1][2][6] Founded in 2012, Plated raised $88.52M before being acquired by Albertsons in September 2017, achieving strong early growth through Techstars participation and TV exposure on *Shark Tank*.[2][6]
Plated was founded in 2012 by Harvard Business School alumni Nick Taranto and Josh Hix, who launched the service that November from Manhattan's Techstars incubator.[3][6] The idea emerged from a desire to blend technology with food, using an online platform to deliver ready-to-cook ingredients and recipes, inspired by the founders' vision to reconnect people with cooking roots amid busy lifestyles.[3] Early traction came swiftly: selected for Techstars NY Spring 2013, it raised $1.4M in seed funding led by ff Venture Capital, expanded delivery to 52 million people on the Eastern seaboard, and delivered tens of thousands of meals within months.[3][6] Pivotal moments included *Shark Tank* appearances in 2014 (deal with Mark Cuban fell through, later with Kevin O'Leary) and rapid scaling, moving fulfillment centers 14 times in three years.[6]
Plated stood out in the meal kit market through these key strengths:
Plated rode the early 2010s boom in subscription meal kits, capitalizing on rising demand for convenience amid urban lifestyles and e-commerce growth in food delivery. Timing was ideal post-2012 launch, as services like Seamless competed on ready meals, but Plated differentiated with cook-at-home tech, influencing the ecosystem by popularizing ingredient kits and social food tech—paving the way for giants like HelloFresh.[3][6] Market forces like Techstars acceleration, VC influx ($88.52M raised), and TV validation amplified its reach, helping normalize direct-to-consumer food innovation before Albertsons' 2017 acquisition integrated it into grocery retail.[2][6]
Post-acquisition, Plated operates under Albertsons, likely enhancing their meal solutions with scaled logistics, though independent growth halted in 2017.[2] Emerging biotech "Plated Skin Science" (a Rion spinoff using platelet exosomes for skincare) shares the name but represents a separate regenerative medtech venture in aesthetics and clinical trials.[4][5] For the original Plated, integration into retail could evolve with grocery e-commerce trends; watch for renewed innovation in personalized nutrition amid AI-driven food tech. This trailblazing meal kit pioneer reshaped home cooking convenience, proving tech's power to simplify daily life.
Plated has raised $56.0M across 4 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $35.0M Series B in July 2015.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 1, 2015 | $35.0M Series B | Connecticut Innovations, Primetime Partners | |
| Aug 1, 2014 | $15.0M Series A | Connecticut Innovations, ff Venture Capital, FJ Labs, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Mercury Fund, Primetime Partners, Seven Seven Six, Slow Ventures, SNR, Teamworthy Ventures, Y Combinator, David Chang, Joe Caruso, Will Herman | |
| Jan 1, 2014 | $5.0M Series A | ff Venture Capital, FJ Labs, Great Oaks Venture Capital, Mercury Fund, Seven Seven Six, Teamworthy Ventures, Y Combinator, David Chang, Joe Caruso, Will Herman | |
| Apr 1, 2013 | $1.0M Seed | Bam Ventures, BoxGroup, Bridge Angel Investors, ff Venture Capital, Mercury Fund, Outlander Labs, Third Kind Ventures, Jeremy Zimmer |
