Restaurant disruptor sweetgreen raised $150 million in a new funding round co-led by Lone Pine Capital and D1 Capital Partners, sweetgreen said in a press release on Monday (Sept. 23).
Existing investors also participated in the round, putting sweetgreen’s valuation at $1.6 billion.
The company has been disrupting the $800 billion U.S. restaurant market with its food platform by spinning the customer journey and addressing the pain points people experience when looking for fast but nutritious meals.
“We’re building a new type of food company and a sustainable supply chain to challenge how we think about real food, explore innovative new retail formats, and elevate the consumer experience,” said Jonathan Neman, co-founder and CEO of sweetgreen.
“This foundation will allow us to push boundaries and broaden our impact, doing even more with our suppliers, partners, and technology so that together we can bring about industry-wide change,” he added.
The new funding will enable sweetgreen to advance technology and supply chain while also addressing its social impact. The company believes that mobile dining is the future of food; more than 50 percent of its customers place orders online.
In order to better serve its customers, sweetgreen is planning to make use of emerging technologies and roll out new options. It will expand Outpost, its free office delivery solution, to 600 locations by the end of 2019. Last year, Outpost had just 13 locations; today there are more than 400.
The company is also expanding into more cities and in 2020 will launch in Miami, Denver and Austin. Delivery is also on the table with the sweetgreen app that is expected to be available next year.
It will also continue supporting FoodCorps, which works to get more fruit and vegetables into school cafeterias. The company has provided $1 million in funding to help FoodCorps tackle the pains of serving wholesome food in schools.
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