Food Traceability Solution Provider YottaMark Receives $24 Million
YottaMark Inc., provider of HarvestMark, a fresh food traceability and insights platform, has received $24 million in funding to help accelerate sales and marketing of the HarvestMark platform that was developed to enhance traceability and transparency within the food supply chain. The new round brings YottaMark’s total funding to $53 million.
Redwood City, Calif.-based HarvestMark solutions are used today by 300 companies, which together source fresh food from 4,000 farms from Canada to Argentina. Customers include The Kroger Co., Driscoll's Strawberry Associates, Sun World and Calavo. In addition to using HarvestMark to meet government and industry requirements, its customers also use proprietary HarvestMark analytics to drive billions of dollars of new annual profit for retailers, food service operators and fresh food producers.
Beyond the supply chain benefit, consumers use HarvestMark on smartphones and the Web to know their food is fresh and safe, learn where it's grown and even connect directly with the farmers who produce their food.
“At Westbury we focus on investing in proven companies succeeding in high-growth industries,” said James W. Schubauer II, president and COO of Westbury Partners, lead investor. “We see a global need for food supply chain insights and traceability in response to heightened interest in health and wellness, sustainability, and supply chain transparency. HarvestMark fits squarely in our profile as the market leader.”
Schubauer will serve as a director on YottaMark’s board, along with Paul Ciriello, founder and managing director of Fairhaven Capital. Other investors include General Mills Ventures, and participation from prior investors ATA Ventures, Thomvest Ventures and Granite Ventures.
“The support of investors deeply engrained in the food industry, like General Mills Ventures with their tie to Green Giant and Small Planet Foods, speaks volumes about the value HarvestMark represents to growers, suppliers and retailers,” said J. Scott Carr, YottaMark CEO. “This funding enables us to continue building on the tremendous demand we’re seeing for our solutions, and advance proprietary analytics that deliver actionable insights to drive retailer and producer profits.”
“The fresh food industry is an emerging market with tremendous opportunity, and HarvestMark is capitalizing on the value of big data to bring food suppliers significant return on their investment,” said Hatch Graham, co-founder and managing director of ATA Ventures and YottaMark board member. “HarvestMark is the first solution that links the first and last mile of the perishable food supply chain, addressing needs at every point from farm to kitchen.”