A Tysons-based company that built a business around bringing food trucks to office complexes and homes has raised a new round of funding to help it shift gears to deal with new social distancing recommendations.
The new funding for Curbside Kitchen -- the amount undisclosed -- comes from the Center for Innovative Technology through its CIT GAP Funds, which is used for seed-stage equity investments in Virginia companies and is the state's most active investor. The new funding follows a prior investment by the Virginia Founders Fund in August last year.
Curbside Kitchen's platform lets building managers easily schedule food trucks to arrive at their locations, circulate menus with tenants or employees, take orders and share reviews from diners. These lunchtime food trucks, which sometimes operate on rotating schedules, have become a staple at many tech companies as one of the perks employers offer employees and as a way to support local small businesses.
But with the threat of the coronavirus pandemic, getting food while keeping at a safe distance has become more complicated. To adjust to the new recommendations, Curbside Kitchen has shifted its focus from office buildings to multi-family residential buildings.
For example, it announced April 2 that it began partnering with Frontier to provide drive-thru pickups from food trucks, including The Fermented Pig and The Roaming Coyote, at Woodland Park Crossing in Herndon and nearby neighborhoods. In that case, its pick-up hours were between 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
“As our communities deal with new challenges related to coronavirus, including lifestyle changes such as avoiding restaurants, Curbside Kitchen is proud to connect multi-family building owners with food solutions for their residents as well as waive fees for food trucks as a way to support the many small businesses that rely on opportunities to vend,” Amy Katz, CEO of Curbside Kitchen, said in a news release.
The startup, founded in 2017, also works wth nonprofit Nourish Now to bring meals to families in need. And it teamed up with Fuel the Fight DC to provide meals from Fava Pot to health care professionals, as well as 50 meals donated to Georgetown Hospital's oncology department.
“We are working closely with our food truck partners to ensure that food is prepared using the safest methods possible, and that each delivery solution can be done to alleviate clusters of people," Katz said.
While the amount of the Curbside Kitchen's new funding wasn't known, raising any funding in recent weeks has been a challenge for many startups. But, while layoffs and furloughs are becoming more commonplace among startups, several companies that were either already well-positioned for this type of environment -- or those that pivoted quickly -- have been able to land new investments.
Jennifer O’Daniel, investment director at CIT GAP Funds, said Curbside Kitchen is in a good spot to help fill a gap in food access, which has become critical during the COVID-19 crisis.
“CIT is proud of each of our portfolio companies that are stepping up in a variety of ways to help during this pandemic," she said in a statement.
