Goldbelly, America’s first platform for food e-commerce, announced a $100 million Series C investment to build the future of the at-home restaurant experience and to empower chefs and restaurants to reach new customers nationwide. Growth equity firm Spectrum Equity led the round with participation from existing investor Intel Capital.
“At Goldbelly, we believe that food has a magical, emotional power. So we’ve created the first platform that connects people with the foods, the places and the experiences that mean the most to them — no matter where they are,” says Joe Ariel, founder & CEO of Goldbelly. “As pioneers of the world of food e-commerce, this investment enables us to continue redefining the ways in which consumers can interact with the foods and restaurants they love at home. We’re thrilled to partner with Pete Jensen and the Spectrum team as we build an omnichannel future for the restaurant industry.”
Goldbelly has seen massive growth over the last year, now with 850 restaurant partners on the platform, covering all 50 states. In 2020 alone, the company added over one million new customers and saw its overall business growth increase more than 300 percent year over year. With this new round of funding, the company will continue to scale the technology and operations of the platform and accelerate the onboarding of new chef and restaurant partners. It will also be used to launch new content initiatives, building on the success of Goldbelly’s interactive, virtual cook-along series, Goldbelly LIVE!, and provide different ways for consumers to interact with their favorite foods, experiences and chefs outside of the restaurant setting.
“The restaurant technology space has seen tremendous innovation over the last decade, but Goldbelly is the first company to offer restaurants the opportunity to turn what has historically been a hyper-local business model into one with a national reach,” says Pete Jensen, Managing Director at Spectrum Equity. “Goldbelly enables restaurants to more easily access e-commerce, opening up new markets that were previously unreachable, and it allows consumers to experience the most iconic food makers and best regional cuisines, regardless of where they live. We’re excited to collaborate with Joe to help the company and its restaurant partners realize the huge potential of this opportunity in food e-commerce.”
The company has also announced two new hires on its executive team who will report directly to Goldbelly founder & CEO Joe Ariel:
Cristina Miller joins Goldbelly as Chief Operating Officer after 7 years as Chief Commercial Officer at the leading design marketplace 1st Dibs. Prior to 1st Dibs, Cristina held senior roles at Group Commerce and Gilt Groupe.
Ranjith Roy joins Goldbelly as Chief Financial Officer after a 15-year career at Goldman Sachs. In his recent role as Managing Director, Roy led many of Goldman Sachs’ banking relationships with its most prominent restaurant and e-commerce companies.
“We’re honored to welcome Cristina and Roy to the Goldbelly executive team. Cristina’s deep marketplace experience, operational discipline and extensive partner relationships, along with Roy’s financial expertise and unique knowledge of private and public capital markets, will be invaluable as we continue to scale our business and create the future of our industry. I’m excited to collaborate with two executives that I admire, who passionately share our vision to build the future of food e-commerce,” says Ariel.
Goldbelly makes it possible to order America’s most loved foods, no matter where you are — from signature dishes from legendary chefs like Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller, Marcus Samuelsson, Stephanie Izard, Wolfgang Puck and David Chang, to renowned restaurants like New Orleans’ Commander’s Palace, Philadelphia’s Zahav, San Francisco’s Wayfare Tavern, NYC’s Union Square Cafe and Savannah’s The Grey, to iconic regional specialties like Maine lobster rolls, New York bagels, Chicago deep dish pizza and Texas BBQ.
