Rhapsody Venture Partners specializes in bringing to market breakthrough science innovation in industrial sciences (non-life science). The firm was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.

Rhapsody Venture Partners

Venture investment company that invests in and supports technology and positive impact companies. Portfolio companies include Apeel Sciences, Bark, Cora, SafeGraph, Till, TrackStreet, Blue Triangle,  FastSpring, Repurpose, Mobile1st, and others. Engel Ventures has unique expertise in building leading software companies, generating substantial revenue through on and offline customer acquisition, and in marketing in general.

Engel Ventures

Upfront Ventures is proud to be an early investor and long-term partner to the most exciting founders and startups. Founded in 1996 in Los Angeles with investing professionals based in LA, San Francisco, and Paris, Upfront has backed standout teams across all technology sectors, including Ring (acq. by Amazon), TrueCar (NASDAQ: TRUE), Bird, Maker Studios (acq by Disney), GOAT, Apeel Sciences, thredUP, Invoca and Kyriba (acq by Bridgepoint). We invest about half of our capital in the fast-growing Southern California ecosystem, with the balance across the country as well as investments in Europe and Israel. Upfront Ventures is led by Managing Partners Yves Sisteron, Mark Suster, and Kara Nortman.

Upfront Ventures

Tech Coast Angels is the largest angel investor group in the United States, possessing more than 300 members in five networks in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Central Coast, and the Inland Empire. Its members provide funding and guidance to more early-stage, high-growth companies in Southern California than any other investment group.  Members invest in companies in a wide range of industries, including the life sciences, biotech, IT, services, retail, Internet, financial, software, media, consumer products, and tech startups. TCA as a whole gives companies more than just capital; they also provide counsel, mentoring, and access to an extensive network of potential investors, customers, strategic partners, and management talent.   Tech Coast Angels has been ranked by CB Insights to be among the Top 20 Angel Groups in the US; TCA was also ranked as #1 for Network Centrality, meaning we have more connections than anyone! If you are in the game-changing business, we are here to help.

Tech Coast Angels

DBL Partners is an investment venture focused on companies that deliver high venture capital returns and economic benefits. DBL Partners uses venture capital to accelerate innovation in a way that positively affects an organization’s social impact, as well as its financial success. They believe these two drivers –positive social change and a healthy financial performance– are inherently connected. DBL invests in and helps nurture outstanding entrepreneurs and companies in Cleantech, Information Technology, Sustainable Products and Services, and Healthcare.

DBL Partners

Andreessen Horowitz is a venture capital firm specializing in investing in seed, start-ups, early, mid-stage, growth, and late-stage. It prefers to invest in the social media business and technology sector with a focus on software, back-end infrastructure, the infrastructure of the Internet, cloud computing, enterprise software and services, consumer, business Internet, mobile-Internet, consumer Internet, cloud computing, data storage, social network browsers data-storage, consumer electronics, networking functions, software related biology, biotech, and medicine companies at the intersection of computer science and life sciences with a focus on digital therapeutics, cloud technology in biology, and computational medicine.

Andreessen Horowitz

Tao Capital Partners invests in technology, transportation, healthcare, education, and food businesses that have a sustainable positive impact. It is an active investor that supports companies through various stages of their life-cycle. Tao Capital Partners was founded in 2002 and is based in San Francisco, California.

Tao Capital Partners

PowerPlant Partners is an emerging growth equity fund investing in consumer food, beverage, and foodservice companies. The company provides capital, strategic guidance and operating expertise to visionary teams leading disruptive plant-centric brands. The company's mission is to re-architect our global food system by investing in world-changing companies that deliver better nutrition in more sustainable and ethical ways.

PowerPlant Partners

S2G Ventures is a food and agriculture venture fund that invests in entrepreneurs whose products and services meet the shifting demands for healthy and sustainable food. The firm's mission is to catalyze innovation to meet consumer demands for healthy, sustainable, and local food. S2G will identify sectors across the food system that are ripe for change, and form a multi-stage portfolio including seed, venture, and growth-stage investments. It seeks to invest in agriculture, ingredients, infrastructure and logistics, food safety and technology, retail and restaurants, and consumer brands. S2G Ventures was established in 2014 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

S2G Ventures

Viking Global Investors is an investment firm that uses fundamental analysis to select investments across industries and geographies. It is a global investment firm managing more than twenty billion in capital across long-short equity and long-only strategies. The firm was established in 1999 and is headquartered in Greenwich, Connecticut, with offices in New York City, Hong Kong, and London.

Viking Global Investors

GIC is a global investment firm established in 1981 to manage Singapore's foreign reserves. A disciplined long-term value investor, GIC is uniquely positioned for investments across a wide range of asset classes, including equities, fixed income, private equity, real estate, and infrastructure. GIC invests through funds and directly in companies, partnering with its fund managers and management teams to help world-class businesses achieve their objectives. In tech investing, GIC seeks to be a lifetime partner to the companies it invests in. GIC has investments in over 40 countries around the world. Headquartered in Singapore, GIC employs over 1,700 people across 10 offices in key financial cities worldwide.

Rock Creek Capital provides investments of $1 to $25 million in the venture, growth capital, buyout, or recapitalization transactions. The firm is headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, United States.

Rock Creek Capital

Temasek Holdings is a lender provider. The company offers debt financing and focuses on transforming economies, increasing middle-income populations, developing comparative advantages, and emerging champions. Financial services, transportation, industrial, consumer, real estate, telecommunications, media, technology, and life sciences are among the industries served by the firm.

Temasek Holdings

Mirae Asset Global Investments is a global asset manager providing innovative investment solutions to clients worldwide. The company originally established in Asia in 1997 has since expanded its presence in 12 countries from Australia to Hong Kong to the United States. Their goal is to provide their clients with insightful financial strategies for all of their investing and financial needs. Their scope of services includes traditional equity & fixed income products, ETFs, and other alternative strategies like hedge funds. They strive to maintain a diversified platform that will benefit their clients and allow us to offer an insightful and research-driven approach to managing their assets.

Mirae Asset

Disruptive Technologies is a measurement and data delivery company. Disruptive Technologies develops wireless sensors communicating with the Internet and the sensors have unique characteristics in terms of size, range and battery capacity. The company was founded in Bergen, Norway, in November 2013.

Disruptive Technologies

Sweetwater helps General & Limited partners generate liquidity and rebalance private equity exposure across all asset types.

Sweetwater Capital Partners

K3 Ventures is a Singapore-based venture capital firm that invests in technology start-ups with talented founders and a vision to develop and transform Southeast Asia. In partnering with K3 Ventures, companies leverage from their exclusive bamboo network that enables strategic opportunities to scale Southeast Asia with pilot projects and by championing adoption that establishes as part of their use case portfolio.  The wave of digital disruption on traditional businesses is inevitable and a necessary evil for progress. Yet technology startups often face obstacles from incumbent businesses and other stakeholders that can halt their growth. K3 Ventures bridges technology startups and incumbent businesses to create an ecosystem of collaboration and foundation for the creation of new market leaders.

K3 Ventures

South Korean investment firm, headquartered in Seoul.

Mirae Asset Capital

Tenere Capital operates as an investment firm.

Tenere Capital

Apeel Sciences

Apeel Sciences produces products including avocados, apples, mangos, cucumbers, and citrus protected by plants. They support the plant’s natural ability to protect against environmental stress by maintaining moisture and reducing oxidation.

<div><p>Apeel Sciences produces edible coatings made of plant materials that extend the lifetime of fruits by 2-3x with the goal of preventing food wastages in regions where there is a lack of refrigeration. According to the company, US retailers that use Apeel experience a 50% reduction in waste alongside a 5%-10% growth in sales on average. As of July 2021, Apeel Sciences reported to have saved around 69 million pieces of produce from going to waste at retail stores by partnering with small family-owned farmers, local organic growers, grocery stores, and large food brands. As of August 2021, the company was offering its solution to a network of 30 suppliers and 40 retailers across eight countries, including the US, UK, Spain, Netherlands, and Kenya. The company focuses on expanding its market presence across North America and the EU.</p></div>

Tech solutions for achieving global anti-wastage targets

Food Waste

<div>
  <p>
    Apeel Sciences produces edible coatings made of plant materials that extend the lifetime of fruits by 2-3x with the goal of preventing food wastages in regions where there is a lack of refrigeration. According to the company, US retailers that use Apeel experience a 50% reduction in waste alongside a 5%-10% growth in sales on average. As of July 2021, Apeel Sciences reported to have saved around 69 million pieces of produce from going to waste at retail stores by partnering with small family-owned farmers, local organic growers, grocery stores, and large food brands. As of August 2021, the company was offering its solution to a network of 30 suppliers and 40 retailers across eight countries, including the US, UK, Spain, Netherlands, and Kenya. The company focuses on expanding its market presence across North America and the EU.  
  </p>
  <p>
    The company&rsquo;s early years were supported by a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation grant of USD 100,000 in 2012 and Andreessen Horowitz, which led the company&rsquo;s 2016 Series B funding round. Celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and Katy Perry have also invested in Apeel.
  </p>
  <p>
    In May 2020, Apeel announced plans to expand to Sub-Saharan Africa, Central, and South America&mdash;all regions where food wastage is increasing. In May 2021, Apeel Sciences acquired startup Impact Vision for an undisclosed amount. Impact vision&rsquo;s technology allows suppliers to see inside their fresh produce and ultimately reduce post-harvest loss, optimize distribution, while continuing to extend shelf-life. 
  </p>
  <p>
    In August 2021, the company raised USD 250 million in a Series E funding round led by Temasek at USD 2 billion valuation. The company expects to use the funds to expand its product distribution across the US, UK, and Europe by accelerating deployment of its product across its existing  supplier network and by partnering with 10 new suppliers by the end of 2021. The company also plans to use the funds to strengthen its data and insights offering and support its future acquisition plans.
  </p>
</div>


<div>
  <p>
    Shelf Engine provides demand forecasting tools for perishable food items to reduce inefficiencies in the ordering system and minimize overall costs. According to Shelf Engine, more than 30% of highly perishable foods in grocery stores such as meat and vegetables expire before the sell-by date. Shelf Engine’s scan-based trade (SBT) technology guarantees sales and pays for any items that remain unsold. Via the SBT, Shelf Engine manages orders, pays vendors, and only charges the retailer for what sells while still paying suppliers for their full order and increasing its accuracy over time. Shelf generates revenue by charging a mark-up on the product from the vendor to the retailer.
  </p>
  <p>
    The pandemic benefited Shelf Engine as grocers found it difficult to manage orders during lockdown. In March 2021, Shelf Engine raised USD 41 million in a Series B funding round led by General Catalyst to further invest in its growing team of engineers, data scientists, and supply chain automation experts. As of March 2021, Shelf Engine operated in more than 2,000 grocery stores and claimed to increase profit margins by more than 50% by reducing food waste by as much as 32%.
  </p>
</div>


Shelf Engine

<div>
  <p>
    Afresh began as a research project in 2017 to develop AI-powered software that optimizes the entire food supply chain. Specifically, the company offers an in-store solution for grocery stores that applies artificial intelligence to manage the freshness of food. According to the company, implementation of its technology has led to a 25%&ndash;45% reduction of in-store food waste and increased gross margin of fresh produce sales by 4 percentage points. The company generates revenue under a SaaS model.&nbsp;I
    n 
    <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16835">
      <u>March 2023,</u>
    </a>
     the company expanded into fresh departments, including meat, seafood, deli, and food service.
  </p>
  <p>
    Some of Afresh's key customers include Fresh Thyme Market, WinCo Foods, and Heinen&rsquo;s. In 2019, the company also reported that it had established partnerships with three US grocery chains, each with more than 100 stores in operation. &nbsp;The company also collaborated with Bashas&rsquo; Supermarkets Inc. (a chain of grocery stores based in North America with over 100 stores) in September 2021 and New Season Market (a chain of 19 privately owned grocery stores) in October 2021 to pilot the &ldquo;Afresh AI-driven software solution&rdquo; at selected stores. In 
    <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/15786">
      <u>January 2023</u>
    </a>
    , Afresh and Albertsons Companies announced the completion of an enterprise rollout of the Afresh predictive ordering and inventory management platform. As of January 2023, the company&rsquo;s technology was deployed across 3,000 stores in 40 states in the US, and it also reported that it was able to triple its customer base in 2021. Afresh notes that it is on track to help retailers save 34 million pounds of food waste by the end of 2022.
  </p>
  <p>
    In August 2022, AFresh raised USD 115 million in a 
    <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/12187">
      Series B 
    </a>
    funding round led by Spark Capital. Following the USD 13 million funding round in November 2020, the company was valued at USD 100 million.&nbsp; 
  </p>
  <p>
  </p>
</div>


AFresh

<div>
  <p>
    UK-based Winnow Solutions identifies and measures waste in commercial kitchens. The company records the reason for the waste, calculates the value of the wasted food, and keeps track of this data in the cloud. The company&rsquo;s self-titled product shares technology with autonomous vehicles, using cameras to record and learn about food being wasted and calculate the financial and environmental cost of this discarded food. Winnow Vision also provides a Waste Monitor solution to help kitchen staff track how and what food is wasted to adjust their spending on food ingredients and eliminate overproduction.
  </p>
  <p>
  </p>
  <p>
    &nbsp;Winnow&rsquo;s customers include the catering company 
    <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/5386">
      <u>ISS</u>
    </a>
     and hotels such as Accor, Fairmont, and The Westin. As of June 2023, Winnow claims that its AI solution has so far saved customers USD 174 million and cut 217,000 tons of CO2 emissions worldwide, equivalent to taking nearly 50,000 cars off the road for a year.
  </p>
  <p>
  </p>
  <p>
    In June 2023, the company raised USD 10 million in a Series C funding round led by ArcTern Ventures. Winnow's previous funding round raised USD 12 million in October 2019 shortly after the receipt of a USD 8 million loan finance from The European Investment Bank (EIB).
  </p>
  <p>
  </p>
</div>


Winnow Solutions

<div>
  <p>
    Hazel Technologies is a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)-funded technology company that develops a packaging which releases vapors that slow the aging process and prevent fungus or decay. Its solution is claimed to double the shelf-life of produce. Hazel operates a B2B business that targets large enterprises. The company has reported treating 700 million pounds of produce as of 2019, saving about 60 million pounds from going bad in 2019 alone. The company has a target to save one billion pounds of produce from going to waste by the end of 2021. Hazel operates in 12 countries including the US and Chile (entered in October 2020). 
  </p>
  <p>
    Hazel works with around 250 foodservice providers and produce companies including the likes of Sysco, Mission Produce, Zespri, Calavo, and Oppy. The company reported in 2019 that it plans to develop new products such as antimicrobial packaging for berries, grapes, and other fruit, and also expects to launch its shelf-life extension technology for meat products.
  </p>
  <p>
    Since 2016, the company has received a total of USD 1.5 million from the USDA to develop its technology. Hazel received the USDA funding in December 2020 for solving the problem of unwanted sprouting in potatoes. In April 2021, the company announced that it had closed a USD 70 million Series C financing round led by Pontifax Global Food and Agriculture Technology Fund (Pontifax AgTech), and Temasek, to expand operations across Southeast Asia, Africa, and the EU. 
  </p>
  <p>
  </p>
</div>


Hazel technologies

Waste prevention analysis platforms use AI/ML

IoT-enabled waste prevention techniques for purposes such as longer shelf-life and inventory management

Recycling and upcycling food waste to keep them out of landfills

Solutions that keep food waste out of landfills

Startups that prevent food wastage by prolonging the lifetime of food or better managing food production through the supply chain. Companies that develop products such as sanitizers, containers, and machines that allow food to stay fresh longer are included here. Startups that develop algorithms to determine food preservation strategies are also included.

Apeel Sciences

EDGE Insights

Apeel Sciences teardown: Digging into the highest funded startup combating food waste

Recent Updates

Apeel Science partners with Limoneira to extend shelf life of lemons

Apeel Sciences launches new imaging technology to determine avocado ripeness

Mori raises USD 50 million in Series B1 funding

Apeel Sciences launches edible coating for ASDA and Tesco in the UK

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