Home appliance manufacturer Whirlpool Corporation agreed on Thursday to acquire US-based online recipe repository Yummly for an undisclosed sum, giving exits to chipmaker Intel, media group Bauer and consumer goods producer Unilever.
Founded in 2009, Yummly runs an online platform with more than 20 million registered users that combines personalised recipes and food recommendations with instructional cooking videos.
The company, which has also developed technology that caters recipes to a user’s individual tastes and dietary requirements, will continue to operate independently.
Explaining the deal, Brett Dibkey, Whirlpool’s vice-president of integrated business units, said: “We are committed to introducing new products to market that remove complexity from the day-to-day lives of consumers.
“Increasingly, these products will be defined by both physical and digital experiences. Yummly brings an outstanding platform on which to begin building our digital product offering.”
Yummly had raised approximately $23m in venture capital, with Intel initially investing through its Intel Capital unit in a $1.85m seed round in 2010 that included Harrison Metal, First Round Capital and unnamed angel investors.
Intel Capital and Harrison Metal were joined by Unilever’s corporate venturing arm, Unilever Corporate Ventures, for a $6m series A round two years later that also featured publisher Harvard Common Press and VC firm Physic Ventures.
Bauer Venture Partners, the strategic investment vehicle for Bauer Media, subsequently led a $15m series B round in 2015 that included Physic Ventures and Unilever Ventures, which had rebranded from Unilever Corporate Ventures, and which valued Yummly at $100m.
– Image courtesy of Yummly