Wednesday, August 1, 2018

Apeel Sciences, Seeded By Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Finds $70M

Apeel Sciences, a startup which was founded in 2012 with a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has raised a big, $70M funding round, the company announced late Wednesday. Apeel, which is developing technology to increase the shelf life of fresh produce--using substances derived from other plants, said the funding round came from Viking Global Investors, and also included Andreessen Horowitz, Upfront Ventures, and S2G Ventures. Walter Robb, the former CEO of Whole Foods Market, joins the company's board as part of the funding round. Apeel was founded and is led by CEO James Rogers. Apeel is already supplying two products--one for extending the shelf life of avocados, the other of citris--on products which have been shipping at Costco and Harps Food Stores since June. The company said the funding will go to meet demand from both U.S. and international fresh food suppliers and retailers, across the avocado, citrus, berry, stone fruit, and asparagus categories. Apeel is based in Santa Barbara, California.