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Venture Capital News: NatureBox Raises $2M Seed Round

2012-12-11
SAN CARLOS, CA, Healthy snack subscription service, today announced that it has closed a $2.0M round of seed funding.
NatureBox, a healthy snack subscription service, today announced that it has closed a $2.0M round of seed funding to accelerate its business of helping people discover healthier food options and to fulfill its mission of addressing the critical state of obesity in America. The investment is co-led by General Catalyst Partners and Redpoint Ventures and includes the participation of prominent individual investors. Launched in January 2012, the Company has maintained a 50-100% month-on-month growth rate in its subscriber base.

NatureBox distributes its own brand of nutritionist-approved, healthy foods to address the exploding demand for healthier choices in the $64B snack food market. The company takes the guesswork out of healthy snacking for its customers and offers them new discoveries every month.

The NatureBox concept evolved from Co-founder Gautam Gupta's personal struggle with childhood obesity and from time spent early on in his career as a venture capitalist.

"NatureBox's mission is personal to me," says Gupta. "I was overweight growing up and spent most of my life struggling with obesity." His 'light bulb' moment came early on in his venture capital career when he realized that there was a tremendous market opportunity in providing a convenient way for consumers to get healthier foods that they couldn't readily find at their local grocery store. "We focused on snacks because today's children and adults are snacking three times more than they did just 30 years ago and consuming a third of their daily calories from snacks. Snacking is what caused my obesity, and I know my struggles could have been prevented if I had had easier access to healthier choices," added Gupta.

Gupta co-founded NatureBox with his college friend, Ken Chen, a real estate investor and entrepreneur who founded a multi-million dollar online marketing firm. They incubated the company with their own money before seeking venture capital investment.

With proceeds from this round of funding, NatureBox will expand its customer base, continuing to grow the company's brand. In addition, NatureBox will enhance its online shopping platform, fill key management positions, and scale operations to meet rapidly growing customer demand.

The company's private-labeled snacks are hand picked each month and delivered in a recyclable snack box. Each NatureBox includes 15-20 servings of 4-6 items 'curated' by a nutritionist based upon a seasonally based health and wellness theme. The snacks are sourced from local growers and independent food suppliers across the U.S. Every snack under the NatureBox brand is free from high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, trans fats and artificial sweeteners, flavors, and colors.

Consumers interested in subscribing can visit www.NatureBox.com. For every box NatureBox delivers, the company donates a meal to feed the hungry in America through partner organizations.
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