Forks Over Knives and The Beet, two plant-based lifestyle platforms, announced their merger and formation of Upbeet Brands.

Andrew Rogers joins the combined company as CEO. Under the Upbeet umbrella, both entities will retain their brand identities and missions.

“We have multiple new businesses developing under Upbeet. Of course, the immediate focus will be integrating The Beet and Forks Over Knives. We plan to explore content and traffic-sharing, broadening support to our shared communities, building cross-brand advertising products, unification of our technology platforms and other efficiencies,” explains Rogers.

He stresses that the long-term goals for Upbeet are centered on “expanding our audience base and strengthening our communities by delivering comprehensive and customizable plant-based lifestyle programs featuring world-class education, inspirational tools and training products, along with access to a wide assortment of curated plant-based food and nutrition products.”

A capital raise to support the merger was led by Gather Ventures, a leading VC in the plant-based space, with participation by 25madison, an NYC-based venture studio.