Nutrition startup Season Health raised $34 million in a Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz.
Other participants in the round include LRV Health, Company Ventures, new Cityblock Health CEO Toyin Ajayi and more angel investors. According to Fast Company, the startup previously scooped up $11 million in seed funding.
Season plans to use the financing to build its business development and operations teams, and to support integration and partnerships with food retailers.
WHAT IT DOES
Season pitches itself as a “digital food pharmacy,” where patients can work out meal plans based on their health needs. They’re paired with a dietitian so they can discuss health conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and chronic kidney disease, and talk about food allergies or personal preferences. Patients can then choose from suggested meals and have ingredients and recipes delivered to their homes.
The startup launched out of stealth earlier this year. Season has announced partnerships with health systems CommonSpirit Health and Geisinger, and chronic kidney disease-focused company Cricket Health.
“Our healthcare system is still in the ‘read-only’ era of food-as-medicine. We can readily shop and receive advice for better dietary choices, but translating that advice into actual healthy food showing up on our tables in real life is still a disjunct, highly manual and costly process,” Julie Yoo, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, said in a statement.
“Season Health solves this conundrum by bringing together meal prescriptions, diverse food choices, delivery logistics and reimbursement in its comprehensive food-as-medicine platform. We’re excited to be backing Season Health to help every patient get access to healthy foods that are medically tailored, tasty and affordable.”
MARKET SNAPSHOT
Another startup that aims to improve access to nutritious foods is Soda Health, which launched last year with $6 million in seed funding. The company offers health plan debit cards so users can buy items related to social determinants of health like food, over-the-counter medications and transportation services.
As part of its Halo fitness-tracking line, Amazon has added meal-planning services that help users discover recipes, put together a weekly meal plan or pick a prebuilt plan accounting for allergies and preferences.
Another company entering the nutrition space is Withings, which recently acquired Berlin-based 8fit, a fitness and meal-planning app. The deal will allow the connected tech company to add personalized workout and nutrition recommendations as part of its offerings.