A Northern Virginia meal-delivery startup has raised $1.8 million in fresh capital and is using the funds to expand service into D.C. and beyond.
Reston's Frolick Inc., founded late last year by a former executive at Germany’s Delivery Hero, partners with local commercial kitchens to prepare full meals for under $15, with no fees or minimum orders. Its partners include GateGroup, the Swiss-based airline catering giant that has set aside a portion of its kitchen at Dulles International Airport for Frolick chefs to design menus and prepare meals.
GateGroup was among the participants in Frolick’s pre-seed funding round. Others include current and former executives at Delivery Hero and GoPuff, a food and alcohol delivery service based in Philadelphia, Frolick announced Monday.
Jipy Mohanty, Frolick’s founder, said he founded the company because, like many consumers, he often turned to meal delivery during the pandemic but soon became fatigued by the choices and concerned about the cost.
“Our belief, especially in this economy, is that meal delivery won’t really take off for the masses until fees are eliminated,” Mohanty said in a statement.
Frolick says it keeps its production costs low by partnering with commercial kitchens operated by the likes of GateGroup and CloudKitchens, which develops commercial space used by restaurants to prepare food strictly for delivery. On the delivery side, Frolick uses customized software to manage routes so that drivers make at least five deliveries per trip.
Maurus Lienhard, the president of food service and corporate development at GateGroup, said his firm was drawn to Frolick’s business model because “requires very little upfront infrastructure cost.”
Frolick says its customers are both consumers and businesses who place orders an average of four to five times a month. The menu changes weekly.
The company said it will use the proceeds from its recent fundraising round to hire staff, increase its marketing and move into new markets. It recently expanded service into D.C. and suburban Maryland and expects to enter other U.S. cities in the coming months.
