Healthy vending company UpMeals kicks off $5 million in financing, appoints three directors

Vancouver, BC-based UpMeals announced the kicked off a $5 million round of private placement funding and the appointment of three new members to its board of directors.

Proceeds from the new financing will be used to expand UpMeal’s business in Canada and internationally by “leveraging the company’s scalable multiple revenue-stream food technology platform,” according to a press release.

UpMeals provides vending machine solution that is promoted as “healthy, fresh and sustainable.”

“The private placement will allow us to position UpMeals to become a global leader in the food tech industry,” said cofounder and chief executive Drew Munro. “Our mission from day one has been to make healthy food globally accessible 24/7 through technology.”

To help drive its expansion goals, UpMeals added to its board of directors food industry experts Kevin Ma, Margaret Chisholm and Mark R. Rutherglen

Ma has been appointed chair of UpMeals’ audit committee. He is a partner at Calibre Capital Corp., a private merchant bank and advisory firm, specializing in corporate financing, capital markets, and mergers and acquisitions.

Chisholm, a renowned lifelong chef, has been appointed chair of the Canadian company’s compensation committee.

Rutherglen joins the board as a director and advisor. He spent the past 26 years in the food franchise sector. Among his achievements are the launches of Subway sandwich restaurants in New Zealand and Hong Kong.