March 25, 2020

*picture credit to Hungry Harvest

By Lynda Kiernan

Paris-based private equity firm Creadev has led a $7.5 million Series A for Hungry Harvest, a startup focused on making an impact on the food space by reducing food waste and ending hunger.

Also participating in the round were an unnamed collective of existing investors, and new investor Desert Bloom. Under terms of the round, Delphine Descamps, managing director of Creadev, and Hans Taparia, co-founder of Desert Bloom will join Hungry Harvest’s Board.

Founded in 2014 in the basement of Evan Lutz’ dormitory at University of Maryland, Hungry Harvest began with just 30 customers – of which 15 were free trials. Today, it’s  a farm-to-doorstep delivery platform headquartered in City Garage, Baltimore that has rescued 20 million pounds of fresh (but ugly) produce or surplus fruits and vegetables from farmers and wholesalers before it gets to the landfill. It has also donated or subsidized more than 1.5 million pounds of produce to partner organizations and the company’s own food access program, Produce in a Snap.

The company then curates variety-boxes of this produce for between $15-$17, or 20 percent below retail, and delivers it directly to subscribers’ doors using local drivers (for a nominal delivery fee), with each box being able to be customized and augmented with grocery staples, pantry items, or snacks from the Hungry Harvest Marketplace. Currently, the company’s delivery radius covers Maryland, Washington DC, Philadelphia, Southern New Jersey, Northern Delaware, Northern Virginia, South Florida, The Triangle Area and Charlotte, North Carolina, and the Detroit Metro Region in Michigan.

In its early days, Hungry Harvest secured initial funding from Robert Herjavec on the television show Shark Tank. Since that time, the company has been recognized by Forbes Magazine, The James Beard Foundation, the Food Recovery Network, and the American Heart Association. Its work and mission have also been recognized by Creadev, which said that the company aligns with the firm’s investment thesis.

“Creadev is pleased to support Hungry Harvest in its aim to fight against food waste and hunger, providing healthy fresh produce directly from farm to consumer in a convenient and more affordable way,” said Descamps. “This investment fits into Creadev Innovation’s Food & Agriculture strategy of supporting cutting-edge Food & Ag startups in plant-based, aquaculture and food chain segments with a long-term focus.”

With the capital from this round, Hungry Harvest plans to scale up its deliveries in both its existing and new geographies, to “aggressively execute its production roadmap”, to accelerate the growth of its social mission, to invest in its technology for an improved user experience for the customer, and to improve the supply chain technology to increase efficiency at the warehouse for order fulfillment.

Toward this end, the company is planning on adding between 15 and 30 additional people to its team this year in marketing and technology. 

– Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to the GAI News and Agtech Intel platforms. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.