How Power Supply Boot-Strapped Its Way To 300k+ Meal Subscriptions

Investment in the crowded food subscription space just keeps coming. The Center for Innovative Technology’s (CIT) GAP Funds announced Monday that it has invested an undisclosed amount of money in Washington, DC-based Power Supply, a healthy meal subscription startup.

Like Philadelphia-based Real Food Works, Power Supply is essentially a technology and logistics company that aims to make it more convenient for people to eat healthfully. It partners with experienced chefs to create locally-sourced, healthy, ready-to-eat meals, which are then sold through its e-commerce platform. Customers order and pay for between 3 and 10 meals a week , and then pick up their meals from local gyms and yoga studios, which Power Supply outfits with branded commercial refrigerators.

The 2-year old, bootstrapped company has an impressive track record: It serves 4,000 meals per week, has sold a total of 300,000 meals since its inception (as of October) and serves nearly 60 delivery locations in the greater Washington, DC area.

How has it accomplished so much with no outside funding? Power Supply’s real genius is that it targets “activated communities,” or groups of people that are already involved in active, health-conscious communities. To start, all of its meal subscriptions are geared towards people who practice one of three diets: paleo, mixitarian (paleo plus grains and honey) and vegetarian (sorry, no gluten or dairy).

The company’s software sends customer orders directly to the chefs who fulfill them. Then a third party courier picks up the orders and delivers them to the distribution centers (fitness centers). And while the company may walk and talk like a food service company, its main focus is on building a scalable software platform. “The ultimate goal with the technology is to be able to plug in any number of chefs and serve any number of distribution centers,” says founder and CEO Patrick Smith.

At our October Food+Tech Meetup, “The Business of Meal Kit Subscriptions,” Smith speeks (video below) about the company’s technology and plans for growth. He also dives into customer demand, distribution infrastructure, quality control and meal review analytics during the audience Q&A. Be sure to check out our videos from Blue Apron and Real Food Works‘ presentations.

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