Zetta Venture Partners is the first focused fund committed to delivering exceptional returns from the high-growth analytics market.  The firm, founded by industry veteran Mark Gorenberg, launched in 2013.  With offices in San Francisco and Utah, and a worldwide network of partners, entrepreneurs and investors, Zetta Venture Partners is at the forefront of the next huge and long-lasting investment opportunity.  Focused funds deliver exceptional returns. In fact, over the past 10 years, focused funds have outperformed all funds by 72 basis points, according to the National Venture Capital Association. As an analytics-only fund, Zetta delivers the expertise, network and portfolio to create ongoing, exceptional deal flow.

Zetta Venture Partners

One of the most active global food-tech VCs. We invest in teams and tech building a better food system.

Tet Ventures

Branded Strategic Hospitality is an investment and solutions company that leverages its ecosystem of hospitality venues, expertise, and deep relationships to influence, accelerate, and evolve hospitality technology (“HI-Tech”) and F&B innovation. Branded’s Principals and Managing Partners have worked together in the restaurant business for over 25 years, including the formation of Branded Restaurants in 2007.

Branded Strategic Hospitality

Branded Hospitality Ventures (BHV) is an investment & advisory company, founded by Hospitality Operators, that leverages its 25 years of industry expertise, deep relationships and capital to influence, accelerate and deliver value to hospitality-centric and F&B innovation companies.

Branded Hospitality Ventures

Astanor Ventures is a venture capital firm focusing on entrepreneurs regenerating the food, blue ocean economy, and agriculture sector. The firm targeting technology-enabled companies across the agri-food value chain, leveraging disruptive technologies to bring about a future of food that is nourishing, regenerative, trusted, and ultra-fresh. It rings together capital, deep sector knowledge, and a strong network of entrepreneurs, impact investors, technologists, scientists, farmers, chefs, policymakers, and food lovers to give rise to a future of food that is nourishing, regenerative, scalable, trusted, and delicious. Astanor Ventures was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

Astanor Ventures

Galley Solutions

Food businesses struggle to cost food accurately, know precise margins, and make data-driven decisions. The result? Too much reliance on intuition and approximations - and profit margins suffer. Galley helps restaurants, caterers, and other types of food businesses collect and understand the food data behind their operations to empower them to make more profitable decisions. See for yourself: www.galleysolutions.com Here’s how our platform works in three steps: +  Claim Your Data - Galley analyzes your inventory to give you real-time food costs, accurate recipe margins, and insights you need to create more profitable menus. + Optimize Purchasing - Galley tracks food usage and sales to create optimized purchase orders that save you countless hours in front of your screen. + Master Operations - Galley generates efficient production guides that help your team reduce overproduction, waste and spoilage, and unnecessary labor costs. You’re left with a high-margin kitchen on autopilot and more time than ever to focus on the things that really matter in your business. Want to take control of your operations? Visit galleysolutions.com.

<div>Galley Solutions is a California-based software solution provider that improves kitchen productivity by better managing inventory and reducing food waste and cost. Galley Solutions offers a plug-in software for chefs and cooks in commercial kitchens, allowing them to focus on core recipe data and receive real-time updates on inventory level and predictive purchasing decisions. </div>

Tech solutions for achieving global anti-wastage targets

Food Waste

<div>
 
 Galley Solutions is a California-based software solution provider that improves kitchen productivity by better managing inventory and reducing food waste and cost. Galley Solutions offers a plug-in software for chefs and cooks in commercial kitchens, allowing them to focus on core recipe data and receive real-time updates on inventory level and predictive purchasing decisions. 
 
 
 The company claims that its data has enabled customers to cut food waste by an average of 25%. Galley has also built its food data platform with an open API that helps restaurants and kitchens to use their current data and make  it accessible to other tools and systems, like POS systems and accounting software that they use. The company reports that a food brand with over 700 units that was still sending recipe presentations to each location via email was able to  Streamline its food data via the Open API access provided by Galley, allowing all of its teams and franchise locations to integrate operations and have a single hub of all food data. 
 
 
 Galley reported that its subscription revenue grew 280% in 2021, and 1Q 2022 witnessed a 146% net dollar retention. The company also noted that it counts popular names like DoorDash, Aramark, and Chowbotics as its customers.
 
 
 In May 2022,  it raised USD 14.2 million in a
 <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10644">
 Series A funding
 </a>
 round led by Astanor Ventures. Existing investor Zetta Venture Partners also joined the round.
 
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<div>
 
 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. 
 
 
 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.
 
 
 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. 
 
 
 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.
 
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Apeel Sciences

<div>
 
 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.
 
 
 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%.
 
</div>

Shelf Engine

<div>
 
 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">
 March 2023,
 </a>
 the company expanded into fresh departments, including meat, seafood, deli, and food service.
 
 
 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">
 January 2023
 </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.
 
 
 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; 
 
 
 
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AFresh

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’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.Key customers and partnershipsWinnow’s customers include the catering company <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/5386">ISS</a> and hotels such as Accor, Fairmont, The Westin, Four Seasons, and Hilton Tokyo Bay. 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.Funding and financials<a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27315">In March 2024</a>, the company raised an undisclosed amount from ABC Impact to accelerate its expansion into the Asian market. Previously, In June 2023, the company raised USD 10 million in a Series C funding round led by ArcTern Ventures.

Winnow Solutions

<div>
 
 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). 
 
 
 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.
 
 
 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. 
 
 
 
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Hazel technologies

Solutions that keep food waste out of landfills

Recycling and upcycling food waste to keep them out of landfills

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

Waste prevention analysis platforms use AI/ML

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.

Galley Solutions

Food Waste

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Jimmy Peters joins Galley Solutions as first chief revenue officer

Galley Solutions raises USD 14.2 million in Series A funding

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