A 3-year-old local tech company has attracted a long list of big-name investors – just not all names you might expect.
Hungry, the Arlington-based maker of an online marketplace that connects independent chefs with business and event catering, raised $8 million in Series A financing.
The round was co-led by Arlington-based Sands Capital Ventures and Motley Fool Ventures, with participation from Jay-Z's Marcy Venture Partners (its first investment), pop star Usher and NFL Pro Bowler Ndamukong Suh.
Additional investors include: Walter Robb, former Whole Foods co-CEO; Tom Colicchio, owner of Crafted Hospitality and producer of Bravo’s "Top Chef;" Ming Tsai, owner of Blue Dragon and CEO of Ming East-West; Seth Goldman, Honest Tea founder; music producer Dave Free; Dan Simons, owner of Founding Farmers Restaurant Group; Daniel Kao, former GM of DoorDash Canada; Eric Kessler, founder of Arabella Advisors; and James Madison Innovations.
Hungry, founded in 2016 by brothers Shy and Eman Pahlevani, connects independent chefs with corporate customers. Rather than ordering from restaurants or traditional caterers, offices order directly from professional chefs making their own recipes. They include former White House chefs, "Chopped" champions, other Food Network chefs and celebrities’ personal chefs – likely a starting point for the nontraditional investor list.
More than 400 companies in the D.C. and Philadelphia areas use the startup's services, including Amazon, E-Trade, Microsoft and WeWork. It will use the funds to expand into Atlanta next month and three to four additional East Coast cities this year, CEO Jeff Grass told the WBJ, while growing its employee count from 35 to about 50.
“The platform Hungry has built provides chefs with economic opportunity and culinary freedom, while making it easier for offices to provide good, reliable, healthy food," Motley Fool Partner Lawrence Greenberg said in a statement. "We are proud to support a company that serves the needs of so many stakeholders so well.”
Like D.C. meal marketplace TwentyTables, Hungry also has a social-impact mission behind it: The startup donates one meal for every two purchased and uses biodegradable plates and cutlery with delivered meals.
