August 2022
RETAIL TECHNOLOGIES
Afresh Secures $115 Million in Series B Funding and Rolls Out its Fresh Food Technology to Thousands of Stores Across the US
Afresh, the leading AI-powered fresh food technology provider, today announced a $115 million Series B funding round led by Spark Capital and with participation from Insight Partners, VMG Partners, and Bright Pixel Capital. Walter Robb, senior executive partner at S2G Ventures and former Co-CEO of Whole Foods Market also joins the round. All prior investors, including Maersk Growth, High Sage, and Innovation Endeavors also participated in the round, bringing the company’s total funding to $148 million.
Afresh will use the investment to scale across thousands of stores and expand the footprint of its Fresh Operating System, an efficient, flexible solution for forecasting, inventory, ordering, and store operations, to support new fresh categories like meat and bakery. The funding will also be used to grow Afresh’s team and expand internationally to Europe.
“Food, more so than anything else, shapes the health of people and our planet. We founded Afresh with the purpose of eliminating food waste and making nutritious food more accessible. We’re thrilled to use this capital to expand the scale and scope of our Fresh Operating System,”says Matt Schwartz, co-founder and CEO of Afresh.
Aiming to serve 10% of U.S. grocery stores by the end of 2022, Afresh tripled its customer base in 2021, signing regional chains like CUB and national chains like Albertsons, with plans to roll out to more than 2,300 Albertsons stores by the end of 2022. On average, stores using Afresh reduce food waste by 25% or more. They also see a 2-4% increase in top line revenue growth and have a 40% or more increase to their produce operating margin.
“The transformative results that Afresh provides are not only seen in grocers’ bottom lines, but also extend to the impact on our planet through the reduction of food waste,” said Will Reed, General Partner at Spark Capital. “We’re proud to support Afresh through their next stage of growth as they continue on their mission to curb climate change and improve our ability to feed the world in healthy ways.”
Afresh’s mission is to eliminate fresh food waste and increase access for all. Food waste is an enormous problem in the U.S. and worldwide, and studies have shown that about 40% of all food in the U.S. is thrown away. Project Drawdown cites reducing food waste as the number one lever to curb climate change. Afresh is on track to help retailers save 34 million pounds of food waste by the end of 2022.
According to Miguel Bagulho, Investment Director at Bright Pixel Capital, “fresh food management is a critical area in the food retail industry, with a wide margin to improve. In addition, food waste numbers around the world continue to be huge, with a general awareness of the need for change. We have been following this market area and Afresh for a few years now and have identified its differentiated product and top tier team as great ingredients for future success. Our DNA and knowledge in retail will allow us to support Afresh in its international expansion, especially in the company’s European ambitions.”
“Afresh is building a tool for the modern age that not only helps grocers manage fresh categories more effectively but also cuts down on food waste at the retail level, which amounts to 30-35% wasted annually,” said Robb. “Additionally, I was impressed by how closely Afresh partners with store teams to ensure its technology is not only easy but empowering to use, effectively enabling grocers to serve the freshest food to their customers.”
About Afresh
Afresh is the world’s leading fresh technology company. Afresh’s AI-powered solutions optimize critical functions in fresh food, including ordering, inventory, merchandising, and operations. Afresh significantly reduces food waste, improves its partners’ profitability, and makes fresher, healthier food more accessible to all. Founded in 2017 with the mission to eliminate food waste and make fresh food accessible to all, Afresh has grown rapidly with grocery customers across the US. Today Afresh has announced partnerships with grocers in over 3,000 stores and 40 states, including Albertsons, WinCo Foods, Heinen’s, Save Mart, Bashas, Cub Foods, and more. Learn more at www.afresh.com.
