“The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison.” - Ann Wigmore. American citizens are becoming more health conscious, and at the same time, they are interested in finding solutions to make their life easier. But in this fast-paced world, people don’t have time to shop for food and cook meals.

This is where Mark Fachler and Monica Klausner’s Veestro came in.

Launched in 2013, Veestro is a food delivery company that offers a solution for working people who wish to eat organic and healthy plant-based meals. Veestro meals are 100% natural, high in fiber and protein, rich in nutrients, and delicious, preservative-free products.

With a vision to make healthy organic food available for everyone, Veestro saves millions of people from the “fast food” trap. Let’s dive in and see the story behind the curtain about Veestro products and services!

The Brother-Sister Duo Who Founded Veestro

Born and raised in sunny Costa Rica, Mark Fachler and his sister Monica Klausner learned to appreciate the true value of traditional home-prepared meals. As teenagers, Mark and Monica moved to the United States, where they met fast food and frozen meals packed with unwanted calories and preservatives.

Mark entered the University of Texas at Austin in 1996, and 4 years later, he received a Bachelor's in Economics. A few years later, in 2010, he got an MBA in Global Management and finance from Babson F.W. Olin Graduate School of Business. Monica, Mark’s older sister, holds a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin and has experience in advertising and marketing.

The Inspiration Behind Delivering Plant-Based Meals

Mark worked long hours when he started his career, which made it complicated and sometimes even impossible for him to follow a healthy diet. When he finished work late in the evening, most restaurants were already closed, and Mark was too exhausted to cook, so he ate unhealthy frozen food.

After deep research, Mark realized he wasn’t alone in that, as many Americans can’t follow healthy eating habits due to their hectic schedules. Monica, his sister, was having the same problem. She took care of her 3 kids and didn’t have time to buy and prepare healthy meals.

Driven by the desire to eat and offer healthy meals for all US citizens, Mark put his skill and knowledge together and came to an awesome idea. He raised funds, made some contracts, created a facility, and contacted the best sales and marketing person – his sister. Monica went over Mark’s plan and idea and approved it.

There was a big crack in the US health food market and only a few options to fill it, and Mark and Monica used it. In 2013, they launched a company that would give eaters access to mouth-watering cuisine from a plant-based diet menu. That company is Veestro.

Veestro wanted to educate people about following a plant based diet to lose weight, by offering healthy, organic, and delicious ready-made meals. The duo, Mark and Monica, made every effort to solve one of the most pressing nutritional eating problems in the US.

They promoted the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables instead of poisoning the body with processed food, dairy products, and meat.

A New Business Model for Veestro

The first year wasn’t very successful for the company, so Mark decided to make some changes using 3 main strategies. The first one was to increase the number of customers and motivate them to subscribe. So, Veestro started distributing its fully prepared frozen vegan meals to its subscribed customers’ homes, offering free shipping and lower prices for their meals.

Monica and Mark opened distribution centers in Mississippi to cover the East Coast customers and lower expenses for delivering their food. Slowly, the customers noticed that the food delivery was faster, so they started recommending the service to their friends. As a result, the company grew each day as it enriched its meal delivery plans.

This was thanks to Monica’s unique ideas. She included different types of meals in the Veestro menu, such as gluten-free and high protein options, to target the growing number of gluten-intolerant people. She also created 3 types of programs for customers to choose from, including meal packs, a la carte, and weight loss programs.

Moreover, Veestro has an option for a lower subscription and more meals included per month for all people who use its services.

Becoming Among the Best Meal Delivery Services

All these benefits that Veestro provides for its customers made it more competitive in the market and pushed its rival into the shadows. Freshly and Thistle and Green Chef are the company's main competitors. But what sets Veestro aside is the quality of its services and products – although the meals aren’t very cheap.

Veestro grew up and became one of the top-quality cooked meal plan delivering services in the US, distributing over 40,000 meals to customers per month. The brother-sister duo reached their goal to return fresh vegan meals to people’s homes and continues to inspire more people to start eating healthy meals.

Healthy food offers lots of advantages and helps people feel energized, stay in good shape and mood, and even solve some digestive and skin problems. Thanks to Veestro, people felt these benefits firsthand and learned that a healthy body plus a healthy mind truly means a happy life!

Securing the Finances

Veestro food delivery service has raised $3.6 million so far in funding over 4 funding rounds, all the while keeping the status of a private company. Interestingly, all this capital came from 3 investors, one of which is a leading one – Blue Horizon Corporation.

Veestro has made huge progress since 2014 when the company announced its first round. Although there weren’t lead investors in the Seed Round in October 2014, Veestro raised $375,000, which was an excellent boost for the company.

Mark, as the CEO of Veestro, decided to announce Venture Round funding in April 2016. This time, Veestro raised $1.5 million thanks to 2 investors – M&A Capital and Starcorp International S.A. Veestro used this money to launch new meal programs and advertise them across the US.

The next few years didn’t bring any profit from funding, as the Seed Round from September 2018 didn’t raise any money for Veestro. However, the last funding round in April 2020 was the best round for Veestro so far and raised $1.7 million thanks to Blue Horizon Corporation, the lead investor in this funding.

On April 5, 2016, PrivCo evaluated that Veestro had a post-money valuation of around $1 million to $10 million.

Veestro for a Healthy Future

Providing a perfect solution for anyone who looks to get healthy plant-based foods in their meals, Veestro has already won the hearts of thousands of people. Its headquarters are in Los Angeles, California, with currently around 50 employees.

The company won the prestigious Veggie Award in 2017 for best meal delivery service, proving its professionalism.

Mark has cosmic plans for Veestro and will soon add some new futuristic healthy meal programs that will increase the number of subscribers. Veestro can get together all those who don’t like meal planning, don’t like eating out, or simply can’t cook and will make their life easier.

The company also plans to open new distribution centers and increase the number of employees and nutritionists. With all this, Veestro is ready to take a new direction and meet its mission to help people consume more plants!