Zipongo, a San Francisco-based digital nutrition platform, has acquired FillMyFork, an employee-facing rewards app that promotes healthy eating. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
FillMyFork fits in well with Zipongo's growing "food benefit management" platform, which consists of a number of different apps designed to change people's behavior around nutrition by changing their environment. Depending on the person's preferences, this can mean providing them with recipes, shopping lists, or restaurant recommendations, generated algorithmically based on data the app has collected about the person. Zipongo raised $18 million earlier this month to expand the platform.
“The FillMyFork team pushed the boundaries on passive tracking of food buying, and rewarding healthy food purchases,” Zipongo CEO Dr. Jason Langheier said in a statement. “[Cofounders Arun Nijhawan and Kartik Shastri] bring a strong focus on the science of effective product development, and knowledge of the food and nutrition data that underlies the healthy cooking utility tools we are continuously evolving. This acquisition demonstrates our continued commitment to be the most effective and complete Food Benefits Management platform available, aiding employers and health plans to reduce the burden of chronic conditions that are heavily influenced by diet.”
FillMyFork was founded in 2014 and had announced no funding other than a seed round of an undisclosed amount. The company provides a mobile platform to employers that gives employees access to diet coaching and nutrition tracking. But the core offering is a points-based incentive program that rewards users for buying healthier foods. Points can be converted into gift cards for Whole Foods, Starbucks or other retailers.
In addition to the added features that Zipongo can incorporate into its offerings, FillMyFork also brings new data analytics tools to the table. In an interview last month, Langheier told MobiHealthNews that a major growth area for Zipongo was learning more about its customers in order to better target nutrition interventions.
“We’re excited that Zipongo’s talented culture and engaged customer base allow us to continue our journey with expanded resources and greater impact,” FillMyFork cofounder Shastri said in a statement.
