Afresh, a company selling software to track demand and manage orders for fresh produce in grocery stores, is now worth $100 million.
That hefty valuation comes on the back of a $13 million extension to the company’s latest round of funding, led by Food Retail Ventures and joined by existing investors Innovation Endeavors, Maersk Growth and Baseline Ventures, the company said.
As part of the round, James McCann, the former chief executive of Ahold USA, a supermarket holding company, has joined the company’s board of directors.
Companies like Afresh are tackling the problem of food waste with the same kind of enterprise resource planning technologies that manufacturers have adopted — and getting results. Stores using Afresh reduce food waste by a quarter compared to peers without the technology, the company said. These stores also see a 40% boost to their produce operating margins and 2% to 4% top line revenue growth, the company said.
“We headed into 2020 with some incredible momentum from early customer partnerships and validation of our technology. As the pandemic set in earlier this year, we were proud of how well our product helped fresh departments adapt during these unpredictable times,” said Matt Schwartz, CEO and co-founder of Afresh, in a statement. “In addition, we’re seeing enormous demand from new customers. So, when industry veterans and inside tech investors came to us and asked if they could double-down on Afresh, we quickly said yes. This new capital will enable us to grow faster and bigger in 2021, thereby accelerating our mission of reducing food waste while making fresh, nutritious food accessible to all.”