Power Supply connects local chefs and healthy eaters

Robert Morton is a former Blackboard executive who had what he calls “a transformational experience” when he started eating, and exercising, right.
There was one problem, though — leading a busy life that is also active and health-conscious is hard to do within the span of a 24-hour day. So Morton teamed up with three other cofounders and asked, “How do we help people who are living an active lifestyle and want to support that lifestyle?”
Together they created Power Supply — a company and platform that helps connect local chefs with people looking to lead nutritionally-specific lives. In a way, Power Supply’s business is a very modern sort of service. You order meal plans online a week in advance, specify what’s in and out and then pick up those meals from delivery points at various fitness centers/gyms across the city.
On the other hand, though, Power Supply isn’t your typical on-demand food-delivery startup. It’s convenient, yes. It’s delivered, yes. But its market is specifically “busy, active professionals who care about what they put in their body.” This means fresh, local, non-processed, gluten- and preservative-free food. It means lots of vegetarian and paleo options.
It’s pretty specific.
But say you’re a gluten-intolerant vegetarian. Your gastronomical life doesn’t have to be boring — Power Supply is here to look out for you.
On a proprietary tech platform these “food people who don’t make any food” will collaborate with local chefs who see Power Supply as a way to reach a new audience. They’ll create, edit and share menu items in a collaboration between the Power Supply team and the chefs that they work with. They’ll take orders, and manage delivery to around 130 pickup locations in the D.C. area. And, when you’ve had your meals, the platform will allow you to give feedback directly to the chef who created your food.
“We built this tech platform to marry these two groups of people,” Morton said, of independent, adventurous chefs (who cook the food in their own kitchens) and “active” professionals looking to eat right.
And the Alexandria-based company seems to have found a niche. Since launching in D.C. in 2011, Power Supply has expanded to Baltimore, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco. The company recently raised a $5 million seed round.