July 21, 2020

By Lynda Kiernan, Global AgInvesting Media

Food demand forecasting platform Crisp announced it has closed on a $12 million Series A led by FirstMark Capital to advance its technology to optimize food supply chains. 

Spring Capital and Swell Partners also participated in this round which brought total funding to-date for the startup to $24 million.

Founded by Are Traasdahl, Crisp leverages its Crisp Data Platform to collect and analyze disparate data sets sourced from business data portals, and works with producers, suppliers, distributors, brokers, and retailers from all points along the food value chain.

It is able to ingest complex data, standardize it, and deliver insights and recommended actions and alerts concerning sales, inventory levels, products, and locations, and to break down silos to connect thousands of companies throughout the food industry, creating an unprecedented level of transparency and openness, while also mitigating food waste.

“The pandemic has accelerated the need for us to modernize in a way that is open, flexible and collaborative,”  said Are Traasdahl, CEO and founder of Crisp. “Crisp transforms the value chain by providing an open data flow to solve problems such as out-of-stock, shrink, on-shelf optimization and adaptation to changes in consumer demand.”

Adam Bergman, managing director at EcoTech Capital, noted the critical point our food supply chains are facing in large part due to outdated infrastructure and processes in his article, COVID-19 Exposes Paradox of Simultaneous Food Shortages and Food Waste, published by GAI News in April 2020, saying, “Any food wasted during normal times is unfortunate, but right now, with so many people faced with the prospect of being unable to afford to feed their family since unemployment has skyrocketed, it is more essential than ever to focus on establishing a more effective food production and distribution network.”

Bergman goes on to add, “Another benefit of a more dynamic global supply chain would be that growers and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies could respond more rapidly to changing consumer trends, such as the latest fad diet or the current trend to eat more plant-based proteins.”

Crisp’s platform can not only give transparency into the current state of food supply chains, but can also integrate information touching upon additional demand drivers such as weather patterns and events, seasonal availability, holidays, and shifts in the competitive market to generate demand forecasting data.  

Having seen an 80 percent increase in users of its platform since January, the startup has expanded its services beyond fresh produce and dairy chains to include CPG, bakery items, beverages, meat, poultry, and even flowers.

“We invest in companies addressing significant global problems and whose founders are passionate about their mission,” said Rick Heitzmann, founder and partner at FirstMark Capital. 

“The team at Crisp—led by Are with whom we have had successful collaborations—aims to solve the critical problems facing the food industry that impact each and every one of us. The food industry has not yet experienced a much-needed tech revolution. The opportunity to lead that shift is enormous and we believe in this team’s ability to make a significant impact.”

With this capital, Crisp plans to expand its technological offerings and build out its platform, in addition to expanding its team, which currently stands at 33 people, of which 33 percent are women and 15 percent are people of color.

“The food industry has not yet experienced a much-needed tech revolution,” said Heitzmann. “The opportunity to lead that shift is enormous and we believe in this team’s ability to make a significant impact.”

Traasdahl added, “We appreciate the significant support of FirstMark who believe in the need to drive innovation in the food industry. This investment allows us to accelerate the value we bring to customers.”

– Lynda Kiernan is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, and HighQuest Group’s Oilseed & Grain News. She is also a contributor to the GAI Gazette. She can be reached at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com.