In 2022, 12.8% of U.S. households were food insecure. Foodsmart, a telenutrition and food benefits management platform, aims to address this after announcing last week that the Rise Fund has signed a definitive agreement to lead a $200 million investment in the company.
The fund was created in 2016 by TPG, a global alternative asset management firm, in partnership with Bono and Jeff Skoll. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
San Francisco-based Foodsmart, founded in 2010, cares for patients with chronic diseases and food insecurity. Patients get access to a national network of registered dietitians. They can also plan personalized meals, order food through grocers and local medically-tailored food partners and apply for SNAP benefits. The company partners with providers and payers, including Medicaid managed care organizations, Medicare Advantage plans and commercial plans.
The Rise Fund chose to invest in Foodsmart because of the immense need for food and nutrition support.
“Diet-related diseases and food insecurity are estimated to cost the US over $1 trillion per year, and disproportionately affect low-income and minority populations,” said Tom Verghese, business unit partner and healthcare lead for The Rise Fund, in a statement. “Foodsmart’s unique virtual care platform meets these challenges by providing access to the largest network of Registered Dietitians in the U.S. alongside medically tailored nutrition guidance to improve metabolic and whole body health. Foodsmart has proven to be the category leader from our longstanding thematic focus on the Foodcare space.”
With the funds, Foodsmart will be scaling its business, said Milo Krastev, CFO and co-founder of the company. The company will also be investing in its technology to support both patients and Foodsmart’s practitioners.
“Partnering with the Rise Fund allows us to scale because we have a bigger partner in order to continue the kind of growth and investment that we’ve been doing and doing that 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. The program helps doctors prescribe food similar to how they prescribe prescription drugs. These health systems are also investors in Foodsmart and will be “continuing along” with the Rise Fund, according to Krastev.
Looking ahead, Foodsmart ultimately aims “to be able to serve the communities that we all live in, to be able to do that as part of the healthcare care continuum and to be able to change people’s lives through food,” Krastev said.
Foodsmart is not the only company providing food and nutrition support in partnership with payers and providers. Other companies include Season Health, NourishedRx and FarmboxRx.
Photo: fcafotodigital, Getty Images
