San Francisco-based Silo Technologies announced today it has raised $9 million for its cloud-based platform aimed at cutting down on food waste in the U.S. food supply chain. The round was led by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from existing investors Capital and Haystack Ventures.
Silo (not to be confused with smart-storage maker Silo) wants to minimize food waste in the supply chain by automating operations within it, including buying and selling food, forecasting supply and demand, and managing relationships between the different players in the chain. The software, which is available to food growers, buyers, distributors, and sellers, also digitizes tasks like accounting, inventory management, and reporting, making them quicker and more accurate tasks.
The company said in today’s press release that while food waste happens across the food system, it’s “particularly heavy in production and distribution.” Examples of this include products that spoil in production process because of inadequate storage and transport and projects that are rejected by buyers. While food loss of this kind is less widespread in the U.S. compared to developing nations, it nonetheless happens with plenty of regularity.
Given that it’s a global, multibillion problem, food waste in general has seen plenty of new investments and developments of late as the issue becomes more urgent for companies, governments, and consumers alike. Clean Crop Technologies nabbed $2.75 million in June of this year, while major CPGs including Walmart and Tesco recently joined the Consumer Goods Forum’s Food Waste Coalition. And as we outline in a recent Spoon Plus report, a sizable number of companies are coming to market with products and appliances that fight food waste in the consumer home.
Silo says it will use the new funds to expand nationwide, opening offices in both Los Angeles and New York City. It will also build out its engineering staff and develop tools to better streamline logistics and financial tasks in the food supply chain.
