In 2022, 12.8% of U.S. households were food insecure. Foodsmart, a remote nutrition and food benefit management platform, is looking to solve this problem, announcing last week that Rise Fund has signed a definitive agreement to lead a $200 million investment in the company.
The fund was launched in 2016 by global alternative asset manager TPG in partnership with Bono and Jeff Skoll. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 2010, San Francisco-based Foodsmart cares for patients suffering from chronic illnesses and food insecurity. Patients have access to a national network of registered dietitians. They can also plan personalized meals, order meals through their grocery store or local specialty food partners, and apply for SNAP benefits. The company partners with providers and payers, including Medicaid managed care organizations, Medicare Advantage plans and private plans.
The Rise Fund chose to invest in Foodsmart because of the great need for food and nutritional support.
“Dieting-related illnesses and food insecurity are estimated to cost the United States more than $1 trillion annually, disproportionately impacting low-income and minority communities,” Tom Varghese, business unit partner and healthcare leader at The Rise Fund, said in a statement. “FoodSmart’s unique virtual care platform addresses these challenges by providing access to the largest network of registered dietitians in the U.S. and medically tailored nutritional guidance to improve metabolic and whole-body health. With our longstanding focus on the food care sector, FoodSmart has proven itself to be a leader in this field.”
FoodSmart’s chief financial officer and co-founder Milo Krastev said the funding will help the company expand its operations. The company also plans to invest in technology to support both patients and FoodSmart’s healthcare workers.
“Partnering with Rise Fund allows us to gain scale with a bigger partner and continue the kind of growth and investment we’ve been doing and do it sustainably,” Krastev said in an interview.
The investment announcement comes after FoodSmart launched a new program called FoodScripts with Advocate Health, Intermountain Health and Memorial Hermann Health System, which helps people prescribe diets similar to how doctors prescribe medications. Krastev said the health systems are also FoodSmart investors and will “continue to be” investors along with the Rise Fund.
Looking ahead, FoodSmart ultimately aims to “serve the communities in which we all live, make it part of healthcare and change people’s lives through food,” Krastev said.
Foodsmart isn’t the only company partnering with payers and providers to offer food and nutrition support — others include Season Health, NourishedRx and FarmboxRx.
Photo: fcafotodigital, Getty Images
