*By Michael Teich* The ice cream maker Van Leeuwen secured an undisclosed minority investment Monday from Strand Equity that the Brooklyn ice-cream outfit's founder said he wants to use to expand. "Our goal is to go nationwide," Ben Van Leeuwen, the company's founder and CEO, said Monday in an interview with Cheddar. Van Leeuwen is available in 700 stores in 25 states, but the boost from Strand will allow the brand to expand its own ice crime shops. Van Leeuwen said the company has 13 stores in New York and Los Angeles, and he aims to have 35 stores by April 2019. The company also has a close eye on the delivery market ー which includes UberEats, Postmates, and Caviar. Food delivery sales grew 51 percent in the U.S. from last August to March 2018, according to [market research firm Second Measure.](https://www.recode.net/2018/4/18/17242262/uber-eats-grubhub-food-delivery-startup) "That sector for us is growing massively year over year," Van Leeuwen said. "We're trying to get our delivery times down to 15 minutes." For more on this story, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/van-leeuwen-has-investors-screaming-for-ice-cream-2).
