The Checkout: Asian and Hispanic E-Grocer Weee! Raises $315M; Once Upon a Farm Gets a Refresh

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Ethnic E-Grocer Weee! Raises $315 Million

Weee!, the California-based ethnic e-grocer offering Asian and Hispanic groceries, announced this week it had raised $315M in series D financing. The round was led by current investor DST Global, with participation from new investors including Blackstone, Arena Holdings and Tiger Global.

The company has received over $415 million in funding to date with previous investors including VMG Partners Catalyst Fund. With its new funding, the company’s valuation is now $2.8 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Rahul Mehta, managing partner at DST Global, said in a press release that the company’s focus on “merchandising and everyday low prices” and its “remarkable social shopping approach,” set the e-grocer apart from others.

Founded in 2015, Weee! offers a diverse product assortment of 3,500 fresh and packaged food and beverage products across 13 categories with ingredients essential to Asian and Hispanic cuisines. The company currently serves 14 regions nationwide including cities in California, New Jersey, New York, Washington, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Massachusetts, with plans to expand to 30 cities across North American over the next two years.

Weee! will also use the new funding to build out its product offerings, add to its team as well as increase its personalization efforts.

“Ethnic communities have been overlooked in the online and retail space. We believe the opportunity to provide these fast growing communities access to exciting and affordable groceries is tremendous,” Larry Liu, founder and CEO of Weee!, said in a press release. “We are thrilled to leverage DST Global and our new investors’ strategic view on the future of retail and vast experience building and scaling technology companies to accelerate our mission.”

Meatless Farm Opens Canadian Plant, Launches Ingredient Subsidiary

Plant-based meat brand Meatless Farm this week opened its first plant protein facility in Calgary, Canada, and launched a subsidiary, Lovingly Made Ingredients, to offer its textured plant protein to external partners across meat alternatives, bakery, snacks and cereals.

Meatless Farm invested $7 million in the 30,000 square foot plant, which will have the capacity to produce nearly 16,000 tons of plant protein ingredients by 2023. Morten Toft Bech, founder of Meatless Farm, said in a press release that the company decided to open the factory in Canada due to the country’s high volume of the pea crop, aiming to shorten the supply chain for its pea protein-based products. The company also said it seeks to reach net zero carbon emissions at the facility by the end of its first year.

“The pace of global growth presents opportunities for how we can share our expertise and innovation with other partners and that is where Lovingly Made Ingredients comes in,” Bech said in a press release. “Bringing this under our own operations in Canada will have huge benefits for efficiency, quality, sustainability and innovation and enable us to offer that innovation and manufacturing expertise to other partners too.”

Launched in 2016, Meatless Farm’s pea and soy protein-based burgers, grounds and sausage patties and links are sold in 24 countries, available in the U.S. through Whole Foods, Fresh Thyme, DashMart and Fresh Direct. The company also said it will be launching in Central Market, Earth Fare, Lowe’s Market and all 110 US Lidl doors in the U.S. this year.

Over the last year, the company has raised $48 million to expand its product offerings and geographic footprint. The company said it plans to launch 10 new SKUS over the next six months, and will also invest in plants in Europe and Asia to shorten the supply chain in those markets.

Once Upon a Farm Ages Up With Brand Refresh

Plant-based children’s nutrition company Once Upon a Farm this week rolled out a brand refresh, featuring a new visual identity, tagline and packaging, reflecting the brand’s evolution from baby food to a wider young audience.

Once Upon a Farm CEO and co-founder John Foraker said in a press release that the refresh comes as the company has seen a significant “consumer demand shift,” beyond just the baby food category.

“We are helping lead the way for an entirely new category: all around Fresh Snacking,” he said. “We felt the time was ripe to reimagine our branding and packaging to reflect this evolution. We wanted to create smiles while showcasing the goodness of our brand – both inside the pouch and as a mission-driven company.”

The rebrand, which has begun rolling out to the brand’s retail partners such as Target, highlights key product callouts like USDA Certified Organic and Non-GMO Project Verified and features its new tagline “A Better Story Starts Here.” Alongside new farm illustrations on pack, the brand has rolled out a new Farmer Jen character on its new direct-to-consumer site based on co-founder and Chief Brand Officer Jennifer Garner. The brand will use the character to shine a light on its work with non-profit organization Save the Children.

The brand began its move to age up to children’s nutrition in 2020 with the launch of dairy-free yogurts and smoothies with the ultimate goal to “help out the lunch box,” Garner told NOSH last year. Looking ahead, the company said its innovation pipeline is “robust” and will include products for ages up to 12, which will start rolling out this summer with new “super blends” containing vitamins and probiotics to support immune health.

Fridge No More Raises $15.4 Million

New York-based instant grocery delivery service Fridge No More announced this week the closing of a $15.4 million funding round which the company will use to grow its operations in New York City and on the East Coast. The funding round was led by venture capital and private equity firm Insight Partners with existing investors such as Altair Capital also participating.

Fridge No More currently operates a network of cloud stores which allows 15-minute grocery delivery within a one-mile distance with no minimum order sizes to Williamsburg, Park Slope and Gowanus, Brooklyn. Consumers can place orders through the company’s iOS or Android app, and can select from a wide variety of fresh produce, frozen foods and snacks.

With the new capital, the company plans to grow its engineering and operations teams with the help on Insight Partners and expand its network of cloud stores, with the ultimate goal of becoming “the leader in the instant grocery delivery market in the U.S.,” founders Pavel Danilov and Anton Gladkoborodov said in a press release.