Thistle Secures $5.65M Series A Financing

Thistle, a next generation food and beverage company focused on making and delivering delicious, fresh, plant-centric meals, today announced it has completed a $5.65 million Series A round of financing led by PowerPlant Ventures ("PPV"). The investment will help Thistle build out a new facility to expand capacity and support growth, aggressively accelerate its marketing efforts, and reach customers in new geographies and distribution channels. Including this round, Thistle has raised $15.7M in total since inception. PPV Managing Partner, Dan Gluck will join Thistle's Board of Directors.

PPV is a $165M million growth equity fund based in Los Angeles that provides capital, strategic support and operating expertise to disruptive plant-centric brands delivering better-for-you food in more sustainable and ethical ways. PPV's prior investments include Beyond Meat, Thrive Market, Rebbl, Veggie Grill and JUST. The Series A financing will help Thistle further capitalize on and continue to drive two major trends that are redefining how people approach their diets: (1) the rise of plant-based eating fueled by health, sustainability, and ethical concerns, and (2) the long-term decline of cooking and growing demand for convenience, including push-button solutions to health and wellness.

"PowerPlant has been laser focused on finding a company that can successfully combine the health benefits of ultra fresh with consumer demands of convenience and affordability, while maintaining a financially robust business model – and we found it in Thistle," said PPV Managing Partner, Dan Gluck. "We fundamentally believe in the growing prepared meal delivery market and are thrilled to partner with such a strong team, led by Ash and Shiri."

Despite its myriad benefits for body and planet, eating a plant-based diet can be difficult given the time-consuming planning, shopping, and cooking required. Thistle solves these challenges by delivering nutritious, ready-to-eat plant-centric meals, cold-pressed juices, and healthy snacks multiple times per week, allowing customers to enjoy a healthier and more sustainable diet with none of the work. In line with the broader plant-curious movement, only a small percentage of Thistle customers identify as vegan despite the fact that the majority of products sold by Thistle are completely plant-based. And unlike like trendy fad diets, Thistle meal design reflects scientific, evidence-based principles of dietary choices that lead to optimal health and a healthier planet: real, whole, slow-metabolizing foods primarily from plant sources, including sustainably sourced vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, whole grains, healthy plant fats, and plenty of herbs & spices.

More importantly, Thistle's products aim to win on taste. "We know our food must be undeniably delicious in order to serve as a long-term choice for our customers. We aim to show that healthy food doesn't have to be bland and boring – that eating a sustainable, plant-forward diet can be a celebration instead of a sacrifice," said Ash Cheriyan, co-founder and CEO of Thistle. "We could not be more excited to be partnering with PowerPlant Ventures, whose financial support, domain expertise, relationships, and perspective will allow us to more rapidly and broadly execute our vision of making nutritious, plant-centric products accessible everywhere and continue to fuel the plant-based movement."

About Thistle
Thistle is a next generation food and beverage company that aims to make eating nutritious, plant-based foods incredibly delicious, convenient, and accessible in order to improve health and the health of our planet. Thistle makes and delivers fresh, ready-to-enjoy plant-centric meals with customizable subscription options to make eating healthy, plant-based foods easy, while its culinarily diverse, craveable products make staying healthy a celebration. Since being founded in 2013 by husband and wife team Ash Cheriyan and Shiri Avnery, Thistle has served over 5 million fresh plant-centric meals and other products to customers in California and beyond. Thistle is headquartered in San Francisco – for more information please visit http://www.thistle.co.

About PowerPlant Ventures
PowerPlant Ventures is a venture capital firm specializing in funding and advancing companies delivering better-for-you food in more sustainable and ethical ways. PPV provides capital, strategic guidance and operating expertise to visionary entrepreneurs leading disruptive plant-based brands including Beyond Meat, Thrive Market, Ripple Foods, Rebbl, Oh My Green, Square Roots, Beanfields, Veggie Grill, Nutriati, Your Super and Vive Organic.

PPV's team comprises innovators behind leading food brands such as Veggie Grill, the largest plant-centric restaurant company in the U.S.; ZICO Beverages, an early pioneer of today's $8 billion coconut water category acquired by The Coca Cola Company in 2013; and Health Warrior, a superfood company purchased by PepsiCo in 2018.

PowerPlant Ventures is headquartered in Los Angeles. For more information about the fund visit PowerPlantVC.com.