20. Thrive Market

Founders: Nick Green (CEO), Sasha Siddhartha, Gunnar Lovelace, Kate Mulling
Launched: 2014
Headquarters: Los Angeles
Funding: $300 million
Valuation: N/A
Key technologies: N/A
Industry: Food, logistics
Previous appearances on Disruptor 50 List: 0

Online shopping has expanded to pretty much every segment of consumer life since the pandemic. There are many online grocery shopping options, including an increasing number of online specialty markets. Thrive Market is one such grocer focusing on sustainably sourced, organic products. 

The company, which works on a subscription membership model ranging from $5 to $12 a month, aims to make healthy food more accessible. The company has a low price promise and says members can save up to 30% off manufacturer-suggested retail prices. For now, Thrive Market delivers within the lower 48 states. As an online grocer serving a broad geography, the company sells pantry staples, snacks, drinks, personal care products and frozen meat, but not fresh produce or refrigerated dairy. 

As it's grown, the company has shifted its customer base to include more middle-class families. About half of the company's million-plus members live in the Midwest or Southwest with household incomes less than $100,000 a year. In February, Thrive Market became the first online-only retailer to accept SNAP EBT benefits. EBT cardholders who join as new members can get free membership. The company has added more offerings geared toward parents, such as family-sized boxes of popular kid snacks like GoGo Squeez. 

The company also integrated AI into its offerings, adding an AI cart in September, which makes suggestions to members who take a quiz, answering questions like how often they shop and for whom, what's on their shopping list and dietary concerns. 

Direct-to-consumer subscription models are already quite common — everything from shampoo to cat litter to transcription services is now available on a subscription basis — but it has come with some recent pushback. Thrive Market settled a class action lawsuit in California for $1.55 million in May where it denied any wrongdoing, but it did update its platform to clarify policies and will email consumers a confirmation that includes automatic renewal terms and the ability to cancel the subscription. 

With more shopping online, the e-grocer space is growing and competition is getting more fierce. Thrive Market's main competition comes from companies such as Grove Collaborative, which sells mainly cleaning products; Whole Foods and Imperfect Foods, which sells fresh produce, beverages and more. But retail giants like Walmart are stepping up their online grocery game.