Corporate Food Solutions Startup ezCater Raises $100M

ezCater, the online marketplace startup that connects businesses with restaurants and caterers, raised $100 million in a Series D-2 funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, according to a press release on Wednesday (Dec. 15).

The fresh infusion of capital brings ezCater’s total funding to $425 million at a post-money valuation of $1.6 billion. The new funds will help the company address the growing and changing needs of the more than $300 billion food-for-work market.

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Before the COVID-19 pandemic took hold in March 2020, ezCater was among the biggest firms to incorporate catering before being hit by an 85% drop in revenue triggered by companies’ newly-adopted remote work environments. Rather than change its operations, ezCater stayed focused on its primary task — feeding people at work.

The company quickly pivoted and went from supplying food for one-off meetings to extending companies’ robust offerings of food solutions. ezCater’s move grew its target market by 10 times. Now, it’s moving beyond its “its pre-pandemic revenue run rate” and exceeding pre-pandemic growth, according to the release.

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“Food for work is bigger and more demanding than ever,” said Stefania Mallett, co-founder and CEO at ezCater. “Employees now expect food at work, and companies need solutions that are flexible and scalable, with business-grade customer service an absolute must. We are food for work. It’s all we do, and all we’ve ever done. This funding accelerates our growth and furthers our mission to feed every workplace.”

Workplace environments of every size are looking to food as a way to attract more people to the office and stimulate connections among staffers. JLL, RingCentral, and The San Francisco 49ers are just a few of the companies that have depended on ezCater’s scalable corporate food solutions.

Harpreet Basran, vice president of human resources for the San Francisco 49ers, said that its hybrid work environment has necessitated a flexible approach to food solutions, especially given that its daily headcount fluctuates.

“With ezCater, our staff gets high-quality meals from a variety of their favorite restaurants — and our organization has no fixed overhead, no wasted food and total flexibility,” Basran said.