Sifter Snags $5M in Funding
Sifter SP Inc. has revealed a $5 million series seed round to ramp up growth of its nutrition-as-a-service (NaaS) platform and the rollout of Sifter Retailer Solutions. This technology and turnkey offering will enable food retailers to build long-term relationships with consumers by helping them attain their wellness goals. The round was led by Valor Siren Ventures, with participation by Hyde Park Angels (HPA) and Wintrust Ventures.
“After founding Peapod and ItemMaster and spending 30 years working in grocery, my brother and I know the right technology can be game changing,” noted Andrew Parkinson, CEO and co-founder of Evanston, Ill.-based Sifter. “This investment allows us to launch a suite of solutions to help retailers attract and retain the rapidly growing health-driven consumer segment, which is critical to grocers as shopper wallets tighten.”
Starting where 90% of consumers shop most often — in the physical store — and where the biggest technology gap currently exists in terms of helping the consumer make informed shopping decisions, Sifter Retailer Solutions offers such features as Scan by Diet, which enables consumers to instantly find and buy products that match the dietary and medical preferences in their profiles. This is all accomplished quickly on a shopper’s mobile phone at the shelf.
Sifter’s NaaS platform powers the consumer wellness journey beyond the store, allowing shoppers to plan meals with the right ingredients for them, manage various diet profiles for different family members, and conveniently purchase healthy food items online. The evidence-based, regulatory-compliant NaaS filters permit multiple dietary, food avoidance and lifestyle preferences in a single search.
Additionally, Sifter easily integrates into a retailer’s current systems, its plug-and-play product suite allowing each retailer to mix and match to create the best solution for their particular omnichannel needs.
“We are excited about the launch of Sifter Retailer Solutions,” said Pete Wilkins, Sifter executive chair and managing director of Chicago-based HPA. “It enables retailers to be at the heart of the consumer wellness journey. However, we are not stopping there. We know health professionals, consumer goods companies, and wellness groups and associations are essential partners in helping people eat healthy. Sifter will purposefully launch tailored solutions to those partners in the next year. We are confident that the Sifter nutrition-as-a-service platform will continue to make healthy eating easy for everyone. Together, we will make the world healthier.”
Last year, Sifter SP secured first-round seed funding of $4.6 million to accelerate the rollout of its personalized nutrition shopping platform. This round was also led by Chicago-based Valor Siren Ventures and HPA.
