991111 Homegrocer.com Gets $100 Million In New FinancingNovember 3, 1999Kirkland, WA - Online grocery store HomeGrocer.com has secured $100 million in 4th-round financing from Amazon.com Inc., Martha Stewart and others that will be used to fund the company's expansion into 20 new locations during 2000, the company said. Besides Amazon.com, other lead investors in this private round of financing include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Hummer Winblad Venture Partners and The Barksdale Group, the online grocer said. In addition to Martha Stewart, other participants include Madrona Investment Group LLC, Liberty Digital Inc., Hambrecht & Quist LLC (Access Technology Fund), and Comdisco Ventures, among others, the company said. Currently the Kirkland, Wash.-based HomeGrocer.com provides service in the Seattle, Portland, Ore., and Orange County, Calif. areas, selling over 13,000 items including produce, meats, seafood, dairy products and local specialty foods. "The quality and quantity of the financial backing that HomeGrocer.com has received for this latest round of financing clearly indicates that we have a model that is both viable and sustainable," Mary Alice Taylor, HomeGrocer.com's chief executive, said in a statement. The investment will fund the expected leasing of an additional 2 million square feet of warehouse space, more than 1,000 new Freightliner tri-temperature controlled delivery trucks, the addition of 7,000 new employees by the end of 2000, continued Web site and technology infrastructure upgrades, a new multimillion dollar advertising campaign and continued customer-based research and development, the company said. Most of the investors in this round of financing have previously invested in HomeGrocer.com, including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Amazon.com, Hummer Winblad, The Barksdale Group, Madrona Investment Group and Liberty Digital. New investors Martha Stewart, Hambrecht & Quist and Comdisco Ventures were invited into the round, HomeGrocer.com said.
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