*By Madison Alworth*
The butchery start-up Crowd Cow wants to revolutionize the way Americans buy meat. The company sells beef from "craft beef purveyors," also known as small farmers.
"They are doing it the right way and raising cattle with flavors that are unique to that particular farm," said Joe Heitzberg, co-founder and CEO of Crowd Cow. "The environment they're on, the soil, the many kinds of grasses, and of course, the over 300 breeds of cattle that exist," it all affects how the beef tastes.
Craft Cow offers a wide variety of natural beef for customers to choose from on its website, including 100 percent grass-fed, grass-finished, grain-finished, and A5 Wagyu from Japan.
Customers choose the cow and the cut they want. After an entire cow has been accounted for, Crowd Cow ships the beef directly from the ranch to customers. Packages of beef around 6 lbs. start at $89 and reach as high as $120.
Crowd Cow has raised $8 million in Series A funding, led by Madrona Ventures. Some of the Series A investment also came from the actor Ashton Kutcher. Heitzeberg said that Kutcher reached out in an email.
"He said something like 'I'm aware of you guys. I'm interested in what you're doing. I don't know if you know, but I'm an Iowa farm boy and I worked at a butcher shop at one point. And I just really dig it and we should talk," Heitzberg recalled.
For full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/getting-a-crowd-together-to-buy-a-cow).
If you have a flexible spending account, here's some short information for you so you don't leave money on the table.
With high healthcare costs, bills can quickly add up. In some cases, it is possible to negotiate your medical bills. Barak Richman, law professor at George Washington University, joined Cheddar News to discuss the easiest way to talk to medical debt companies about what's owed.
Millions of people have selected insurance plans for 2024 but sometimes navigating them can be tricky time consuming and expensive. Paula Pant, host of 'Afford Anything' podcast, joined Cheddar News to break down what's needed to know about their insurance plans.
The European Union is investigating Elon Musk's X over alleged illicit content and disinformation on its platform. Cheddar News breaks it all down and discusses what it could mean for users.
Adobe and Figma called off their $20 million merger, Southwest Airlines gets fined, Nippon Steel is buying U.S. Steel and oil and gas prices surge after a pause in shipments.
With more employees being called back to the office, many workers are suddenly protesting by being in the office for as little time as possible. As the term suggests, coffee-badging means coming in for just enough time to have a cup of coffee, show your face, and swipe your badge.
Japan's Nippon steel is buying U.S. Steel for $14.9 billion.
Southwest Airlines will pay a $35 million fine as part of a settlement over a 2022 holiday season disaster that saw the airline cancel thousands of flights and leave millions of people stranded.
Cheddar News' Need2Know is brought to you by Securitize, which helps unlock broader access to alternative investments in private businesses, funds, and other alternative assets. The private credit boom is here and the Hamilton Lane Senior Credit Opportunities Fund has tripled in assets under management in just six months from November 2022 through April this year. Visit Securitize.io to learn more.
Stocks opened slightly higher after Monday's opening bell after several weeks of gains as the year closes out.
