Financing

Sweetgreen grabs $200M in latest funding round

The investment brings the fast-casual salad chain’s valuation to $1 billion.
Photograph: Shutterstock

Fast-casual salad chain Sweetgreen secured $200 million in financing, bringing its total valuation to $1 billion, the company announced Tuesday.

Fidelity Investments led the funding round, a move that was first predicted by CNBC last month.

Los Angeles-based Sweetgreen currently has 90 units. It will use the latest cash infusion to focus on technology, supply chain and social impact.

"As a company we are focused on democratizing real food,” Jonathan Neman, co-founder and CEO of Sweetgreen, said in a statement. “Our vision is to evolve from a restaurant company to a food platform that builds healthier communities around the world.”

The chain plans to develop software focused on consumer personalization, deepen its use of blockchain to create a transparent supply chain, expand its footprint in existing and new markets, grow its Outpost delivery platform in office buildings, and beef up its in-school program, which “reimagines school cafeterias and food education,” according to a press release.

Sweetgreen was founded in 2007. The tech-focused brand currently has 1 million users of its digital platform, with nearly half of all orders coming in via app or online.

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