Free From Market Raises $2.1M to Expand Reach of Patient-Driven Health and Food Delivery Platform

Kansas City, Missouri-based digital health and ecommerce platform Free From Market announced last week it has closed a $2.1 million seed funding round to expand its reach within healthcare, specifically the managed care channel. Looking to extend patient care beyond clinic walls, FFM takes a ‘food is medicine’ approach.

What is Free From Market?

Launched in 2021, Free From Market is a “patient-driven digital platform” on a mission to provide lower income Americans living with chronic health conditions with the diet-specific foods they require.

Operating under the guiding principle of using food as medicine, the platform partners with hospitals, health systems and community-based organizations to offer services including direct-to-door grocery delivery; nutritional education through 1:1 telehealth coaching; and analytics, reporting and insights that track health outcomes over time.

Those partners refer their patients or members to the platform after identifying and selecting specific criteria; access can be prescribed by a healthcare provider. After completing the onboarding process, patients can start shopping for meals, produce and shelf-stable products immediately with a subsidized monthly credit sent directly to their account. Free From Market currently carries over 1,500 food and beverage products, allowing users to filter results based on the ingredients, allergens and certifications that are important to their respective needs.

Co-founder Emily Brown’s inspiration for the platform stemmed from her lived experience as both a patient and a caregiver; she has two daughters living with chronic health conditions in which food is an integral part of standard care. Like many families struggling through tough economic times, the family enrolled in government assistance programs and was unable to afford the foods necessary for treatment.

Initially, Brown created a nonprofit to introduce special dietary foods into food banks and food pantries. She also became a co-investigator with several research institutions focused on food related conditions and food insecurity.

“I saw this transformation happening in healthcare, really looking at investing in upstream interventions to help not only with access, but to help reduce the cost of care and ultimately improve health outcomes,” said Brown. “For me, Free From Market is that vehicle that brings all of the pieces of the puzzle to achieve these goals.”

Unlike many other ecommerce companies, FFM operates on a closed-loop system approach with one of “the largest supply chain partners in the natural food space.” According to Brown, this allows the platform to “provide the same high quality experience for [its] users regardless of where [they] live.”

She added, “If you’re only leveraging the existing grocery footprint, then it’s really difficult for you to manage that across geographies.”

Who participated in the round?

The round, Free From Market’s first equity funding, was led by Bluestein Ventures, a Chicago-based venture capital fund that invests in early-stage ventures across the food industry. The group’s portfolio also includes brands such as alt-meat brand Meati, cold brew maker Bizzy and baked goods producer Base Culture.

“They fit because they invest in the future of food. They make investments along the food system and CPG and they have a thesis around food is medicine,” said Brown.

“Food has a powerful ability to heal our bodies, and we’re thrilled to support FFM as they build the future in the ‘food is medicine’ space,” said managing partner of Bluestein Ventures Andrew Bluestein in a press release. He called Free From Market “the much-needed connective tissue, bringing together key stakeholders within food and healthcare industries to improve the health and wellness of our communities.”

Additional participation in the round came from Acumen America, Beta Boom, KCRise Fund and 1st Course Capital. Additionally, FFM was a 2022 recipient of Google for Startups Black Founders Fund. The fund provided $100,000 in non-diluted funding, ongoing support through Goodie Nation, opportunities to interact with Google staff members and cloud credits.

How does FFM help fill a gap in the food delivery space?

Though grocery delivery platforms such as Thrive Market cater to consumers with specific dietary needs and allergies, FFM is different in that it integrates the asynchronous and live content with a registered dietician and ongoing text support with a certified health coach.

“We’re working to expand and grow our reach within the pair insurance market as insurance companies are starting to fund these personal interventions,” said Brown. “We’re looking to expand our offerings and support patients across states.”

For CPG brands, FFM democratizes access to products within the natural food space. Eventually, the platform hopes to work directly with new and emerging brands by offering them a space to debut their products.

Free From Market’s competitors include Orange, California-based food data aggregator Everything Food, Inc., which launched in 2021 and also follows a ‘food as medicine’ approach with meal delivery “prescriptions.” Touted as a “micro supply chain management system,” the platform features a component which handles the burden of sourcing fresh produce, accessing healthy meals from local chefs and providing home delivery to patients who qualify for assistance.

Additionally, in September, Instacart launched Instacart Health to allow healthcare providers to order food and medical supplies for patients as part of their prescribed meal plans or post-hospital discharges.

According to a recent study conducted by Tufts University, delivering “medically tailored” meals to ill individuals in the U.S. could help avoid 1.6 million hospitalizations annually and save nearly $13.6 billion per year.

Looking ahead, FFM is working to grow its partnerships with hospitals and health systems working to subsidize access for their clients. These partners pay for the food and nutrition programs the ecommerce platform provides to their patients and members.

FFM is also looking to grow its team, which currently includes seven employees who have backgrounds across community health, food distribution, healthcare technology and nutrition. Mark Jaffe, FMM’s chief operating officer, was an early addition to the team who previously held a position as VP of strategic operations at Everytable, a mission-driven food service company.

“We are [looking] at really leveraging this transformation in healthcare to bring access to healthy food to individuals who haven’t always had it,” said Brown.