Freshly is a healthy-meal startup that delivers microwavable dinners to your door

By Lulu Chang July 12, 2016

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You thought you wanted to cook. You really did. You ordered that meal kit with every intention of firing up the stove and putting on an apron. But now, the only part of your kitchen you want to utilize is your microwave.

Luckily, there’s another meal delivery startup that will cater to your busy lifestyle and your after-work exhaustion. Meet Freshly, a New York City-based company that delivers healthy meals for about $11 a meal. And no, there’s no cooking involved. Simply throw it in your microwave or heat it up on your stove, and voila, your dinner is served. Best of all, you can order from Freshly once a week, and get all the meals you need for the next seven days.

“Our thought process was that on-demand means different things,” CEO Michael Wystrach told TechCrunch. “What we like to say is that you could have someone deliver you toothpaste when you want it, but having toothpaste already in your medicine cabinet is true on-demand. And when people are hungry, you’re hungry right now. You don’t want to have to wait for it.”

That means that for Freshly, competitors aren’t really the other companies in the meal delivery space. Rather, Wystrach said, the company is going up against restaurants, grocery stores, and other traditional food and meal purveyors. And the company just raised another $21 million to do so.

Currently, Freshly customers can pay $11.50 per meal for six meals a week, though if you order more, your per-meal price decreases. All meals are said to be gluten-free and contain no processed sugar, while featuring a healthy protein and vegetables. And if you have special dietary restrictions, the company is looking for ways to cater to your needs soon.

Already, Freshly says its delivers 250,000 meals every month across 28 states, and its new cash injection should help the firm reach the entire country.

So if you want a healthy, microwavable dinner tonight, you may want to check out what’s on the menu at Freshly.

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