Munchery delivers chef-prepared meals to your door

For those of us who are less than talented in the kitchen but still crave home cooked food, Munchery is a dream come true. Now, with $4 million in funding, this startup will take its marketplace across the nation.

Munchery essentially gives users their own personal chef. Everyday, the site features newly designed menus from local chefs. Each dish has a profile of sorts, listing the ingredients, information about dietary restrictions (nut free, gluten free), the cost, the background of the chef, and heating/preparation instructions.

Today, for example, a user can choose a grilled hanger steak with horseradish and green onion mashed potatoes, and a golden beet salad from Chef Steven Levine, or Smoky Cheese Chile Rellenos with Chard, Mushrooms, and Cranberries from Chef Allison Jones. The prices are mostly between $10 and $15 for a meal. Once you have made your selection, you place the order and meal is delivered to you when and where you want it.

Currently, Munchery only operates in the San Francsico Bay Area, but this investment will go towards expanding. It has extend its service into Berkeley and Oakland, with plans to expand to LA, Seatlle and New York City by the end of the year. It will also go towards lowering the cost of the food.

“We began as young dads desperate for a family dinner solution that was both healthy, convenient and affordable,” said Tri Tran, cofounder and CEO. “All around us software was eating the world, but it hadn’t really touched something as fundamental as your dinner. We thought we could change that, so we leveraged technology to build what we wanted, and the response has been overwhelming — everyone wants to eat better.’

Munchery launched in 2010 and since then has served over 60,000 meals. The chefs on the platform average over 13 years of professional experience. This round was led by E.Ventures with participation from angel investors and brings the total funding to $4.21 million. Read the blog post.