# Crowd Cow

> Crowd Cow is a Seattle-based online meat marketplace that connects independent farms, ranches, and fisheries directly with home cooks. Founded in 2015 as a 'cow-sharing' crowdfunding experiment, it grew into one of the best-known direct-to-consumer protein brands in the U.S., known for radical transparency about where each cut comes from, hard-to-find products like Japanese A5 and Olive Wagyu, and a mission to give consumers an alternative to the anonymous, commodity grocery-store meat case.

- **Founded:** 2015
- **Headquarters:** Seattle, Washington, United States
- **Founders:** Joe Heitzeberg (Co-Founder & Chairman (former CEO)), Ethan Lowry (Co-Founder)
- **Team size:** ~50 employees (grew to ~90 during the 2020 pandemic surge)
- **Products:** Craft beef, Japanese & domestic Wagyu, Pork, chicken, lamb & turkey, Seafood, Subscription & curated boxes
- **Notable:** Sold its first whole cow online within 24 hours of launching in June 2015., Pioneered the consumer 'craft beef' movement., Became the largest supplier of Japanese A5 Wagyu to U.S. consumers, reportedly over 50% of that meat purchased by Americans.

## Products & services

- **Craft beef** — Grass-fed and pasture-raised beef from independent ranches, sold by the cut or in curated boxes, with named farm sourcing.
- **Japanese & domestic Wagyu** — Imported Japanese A5 Wagyu, Olive Wagyu, and Wagyu cross beef. Crowd Cow became the largest U.S. supplier of Japanese A5 Wagyu to consumers.
- **Pork, chicken, lamb & turkey** — Heritage and pasture-raised poultry and other proteins from vetted farms.
- **Seafood** — Wild and responsibly sourced seafood including Maine lobster, Icelandic Arctic char, halibut, lingcod, blue shrimp, and Dungeness crab.
- **Subscription & curated boxes** — Recurring and one-time delivery of 5-10 lb assortments shipped frozen at peak freshness in recyclable/compostable packaging, nationwide (excl. AK/HI).

## Achievements

- Sold its first whole cow online within 24 hours of launching in June 2015.
- Pioneered the consumer 'craft beef' movement.
- Became the largest supplier of Japanese A5 Wagyu to U.S. consumers, reportedly over 50% of that meat purchased by Americans.
- Grew from 6 Washington farms (2016) to 100+ farms across 23 states (2020).
- Raised $25.1M total from investors including Madrona, Maveron, Joe Montana, and Ashton Kutcher's Sound Ventures.
- Revenue grew roughly fourfold during the COVID-19 pandemic as demand for home delivery surged.
- Olive Wagyu it carried won 'Best Fat Quality' among 182 brands at the 2017 Wagyu Olympics.

## Latest updates

- **2019-11** — Closed a $15.1M Series B, bringing total funding to about $25.1M.
- **2020-06** — Scaled to ~90 employees and roughly 4x revenue growth during the pandemic; sourcing from 100 farms across 23 states.
- **2023-02** — Co-founder Joe Heitzeberg moved to Chairman; Day-One team member and VP of Marketing Elizabeth Liu became CEO.

## Links

- Website: https://crowdcow.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/crowd-cow
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/crowdcowusa
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CrowdCow
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/crowdcow
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/crowdcowusa/
- TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@crowdcow

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/crowd-cow
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-09