Silicon Valley’s Next Big Thing: Baby Food

Baby messily eating food
Natalia Deriabina/Getty

A new Silicon Valley baby food delivery service has raised millions of dollars investors in a round of funding including high tech darlings Warby Parker and Harry’s. Yumi delivers fresh baby food directly to its customers as the Masters of the Universe hope to replace Gerber and other traditional baby food brands.

TechCrunch reports that several Silicon Valley startups have begun focusing on a new market — babies. Specifically, baby food delivery services offering a number of different food options for young eaters. One company, Yumi, recently announced that it has raised another $8 million in funding from several Silicon Valley investors.

The investors including Allbirds, Warby Parker,  Harry’s, Sweetgreen,  SoulCycle, Uber, Casper, and the CEO of Blue Bottle Coffee, James Freeman. The firm has now raised a total of $12.1 million, but may have a tough time breaking into a saturated market filled with a wide variety of products for parents to choose from.

Zion Market Research estimates that the global baby food market could reach as much as $76 billion by 2021, however, Yumi and its investors seem particularly optimistic about the success of the firm. Yumi co-founder and CEO Angela Sutherland told TechCrunch: “Our goal is to change the standards for childhood nutrition, and completely upend what it means to be a food brand in America. This group of visionary leaders have all redefined their categories and now we have the opportunity to work together to reimagine early-age nutrition for the next generation.”

Yumi claims that its advantage over competitors is that it provides fresh food alternatives that contain key nutrients that “shelf-stable” products made by companies such as Gerber lack. So far, Yumi’s sales have risen by 10 times in the last year alone according to the company, which has not yet released full sales numbers.

Yumi co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker Neil Blumenthal commented on the firm stating: “As a parent, Yumi’s mission immediately resonated. As we’ve seen at Warby Parker, and now at Yumi, there is a massive shift happening in the world of retail. There’s now a new generation of consumers who are actively seeking brands that reflect their values and lifestyle — the moat that big, legacy brands once enjoyed has evaporated.”

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com

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