Why these investors say "us too" to grocery delivery

Tech-enabled food delivery is huge among venture capitalists and entrepreneurs. Recipe kits in particular are especially trendy. But it's a big world and everybody eats, so Insight Venture Partners is backing a big European player that's driving hard for the American market.

Insight led a $50 million Series D funding round announced Wednesday by HelloFresh, a Berlin-headquartered company with a business model quite similar to Brooklyn's Blue Apron or Manhattan's Plated.

They're already competing in the United States, but the new infusion will fund more aggressive expansion.

"It's a huge market, right?" Insight managing director Jeff Lieberman told me. "Food is absolutely enormous, and the grocery space in general is enormous, our belief is that there will be several very vey large players that will lead the market, and ultimately it comes down to having the presence and the brand, and building brand loyalty and executing it well."

Lieberman wouldn't say how much the deal presumes HelloFresh is worth, but we can get some idea by comparing it to Blue Apron, which was reportedly valued at about $500 million during its recent funding round finished in May.

As of late April, Blue Apron delivered about 600,000 meals a month throughout most of the United States' major population centers, at about $10 per meal for a $72 million annual run rate.

Founded in 2011, HelloFresh says it's now delivering more than 1 million meals a month, with a basic price of $10.75 for a classic meal and $9.08 for a vegetarian meal. The company distributes in Europe and, now, 37 states covering three-quarters of the American population, a spokeswoman said.

Ben Fischer covers local and regional business in greater New York City.