Ongoing Round Led by Google Ventures and SparkLabs Global Ventures
San Francisco, CA, (December 11, 2013) – The Orange Chef Company, widely regarded as leaders of the connected kitchen category, today announced securing $1.2 million in seed funding led by Google Ventures and SparkLabs Global Ventures, with additional participation by Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI), Kima Ventures, The Social+Capital Partnership, Graph Ventures, and several key angel investors. The company did not release financial terms.
Santiago Merea, The Orange Chef Company’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer, started the company with the intention of pioneering a smarter kitchen by creating simple tools to integrate smart technology into the traditional kitchen. “We’re very excited to have such amazing partners that share our mission of making the kitchen a place of confidence and discovery,” said Merea, “With their support, we will continue to grow our team and aggressively ramp up our product development.” Merea added.
The company also recently announced the planned release of their newest product,Prep PadTM, the iOS enabled bluetooth food scale for February 2014. Prep Pad provides real-time nutritional information for all raw ingredients and scannable food items. The food scale is the first of its kind, allowing users to visually obtain the full macro and micro-nutritional profiles of ingredients and meals as they create them, while saving to a personal profile. Users also have the option to then share their creations socially via Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Evernote – among other features.
“I am very excited by our investment in The Orange Chef. Their smart food scale is one of those rare products that gets a WOW reaction from everyone we’ve shown it to,” said Frank Meehan, Co-Founder and General Partner of SparkLabs Global, “At SparkLabs Global we see tremendous global potential for The Orange Chef as they lead the way in the tech revolution of the massive food sector.” Meehan added.
The Orange Chef Company is poised to resume their rapid growth into 2014 – continuing to pioneer the connected kitchen market, expand its offering of smart kitchenware, and bolster its team internally.
About The Orange Chef Company
The Orange Chef Company is creating a smart ecosystem for the kitchen, one product at a time. Widely regarded as leaders of the connected kitchen category, all products are designed with an emphasis on simple design, maintaining the craft of cooking, and using local and sustainable materials. Established in 2011, The Orange Chef Company is privately held and headquartered in San Francisco. For more information, visit www.theorangechef.com.