Cheetah Captures $60 Million

<p><strong><span class&equals;"xn-location">PLEASANTON<&sol;span><&sol;strong> &&num;8212&semi; Cheetah&comma; a technology supply chain company operating a wholesale food and restaurant supplies marketplace&comma; has closed a Series C Round of financing totaling <span class&equals;"xn-money">&dollar;60 million<&sol;span> co-led by Manna Tree and Sator Grove Holdings&period; They were joined by Lineage Logistics&comma; Grupo Nutresa&comma; Eclipse Ventures&comma; and Hanaco Growth Ventures&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The interest in this growth round underscores the need and demand for providing tech-enabled services and support to independent restaurants and food entrepreneurs&comma; who have been struggling during the pandemic&period; These independent restaurants&comma; when combined&comma; make up the largest part of the foodservice industry in <span class&equals;"xn-location">the United States<&sol;span>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"col-sm-10 col-sm-offset-1">&NewLine;<p>Since its inception in 2015&comma; Cheetah has grown exponentially to service thousands of restaurants through their innovative&comma; tech-enabled&comma; platform that is providing wholesale food buyers with price and sourcing transparency&comma; and best-in-class customer service&period; With independent restaurants getting hit the hardest through the pandemic&comma; there has never been a more critical time for them to have honest partners with transparent pricing&period; Through the new Manna Tree partnership&comma; Cheetah will work with the private equity firm&&num;8217&semi;s deep network&comma; which includes restaurant groups and operators&comma; real estate relationships&comma; and management consultants&comma; to accelerate Cheetah&&num;8217&semi;s plans to enter new markets in addition to helping the emerging supply chain leader grow further via M&amp&semi;A&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"col-sm-10 col-sm-offset-1">&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Operating a restaurant is hard enough without suppliers changing pricing and products on you constantly and without you knowing&period; We started Cheetah to provide a fair and honest e-commerce platform for restaurants who demand more transparency and efficiency from their suppliers and partners&period; Transparency&comma; enabled by our technology&comma; allows for better decision making&comma; giving our restaurant customers the opportunity for enhanced profitability and the agency to choose vendors that are making our world a healthier and more sustainable place&period;&&num;8221&semi; explained Na&&num;8217&semi;ama Moran&comma; Co-Founder and CEO of Cheetah&comma; who led the company through turbulent market changes during the pandemic&period; &&num;8220&semi;We joined forces with Manna Tree because their mission to improve human health through nutrition is perfectly aligned with our own mission&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Cheetah is committed to bringing localized and nutritious food ingredients to consumers via restaurants&semi; the largest channel for food consumption in <span class&equals;"xn-location">the United States<&sol;span>&&num;8221&semi; said <span class&equals;"xn-person">Pam Shepherd<&sol;span>&comma; Managing Director&comma; Manna Tree&period; &&num;8220&semi;As a firm&comma; we see great potential to improve human health across the food supply chain&comma; especially with an industry trailblazer like Cheetah&period; They are poised to upend the existing wholesale food marketplace&comma; bringing greater transparency and greater levels of service to foodservice distribution&comma; a <span class&equals;"xn-money">&dollar;300 billion<&sol;span>-plus industry historically lacking in innovation&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;We were immediately impressed with the culture and the people at Cheetah&comma;&&num;8221&semi; added <span class&equals;"xn-person">Paul Buser<&sol;span>&comma; Co-Founder and Co-CEO&comma; Sator Grove Holdings&period; &&num;8220&semi;Our mission is to find and help build the best companies in the world&comma; and to make a positive impact on humankind through our work&period; The management team at Cheetah has shown they have the ability to make tough decisions in challenging times&comma; and they are more committed than ever to redefining how we think of the supply chain in the restaurant space when it comes to food sourcing&period;&&num;8221&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><b><&sol;b>Cheetah will expand from its Bay Area base&comma; where the company is servicing more than 10&percnt; of all independent restaurants&comma; and will be announcing entry into new markets in the coming months&period; Price transparency&comma; nutritional transparency&comma; and sourcing transparency are at the core of Cheetah&&num;8217&semi;s national and international expansion plans&period; Cheetah&&num;8217&semi;s marketplace is continuously adding local and sustainable vendors into its long list of partners&period; The Company is betting big on the post-pandemic rebound and renaissance of the restaurant industry by helping restaurants succeed with its honest&comma; sustainable&comma; and profit-enhancing products and tools&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;