Agtech company Ecoark has rebranded as Zest Technologies, and has secured a $10 million revolving credit facility with Trend Discovery SPV I, LLC.
Founded in 2011, Ecoark, now Zest Technologies, is working to modernize the post-harvest fresh food supply chain. Through its Zest Fresh™ solutions platform developed by its wholly-owned subsidiary Zest Labs, the company is taking a breakthrough approach to maintaining the quality of post-harvest foods through item-level monitoring and real-time predictive analytics. By placing IoT sensors in each pallet at harvest, data is autonomously collected at established points along the supply chain to monitor cut-to-cool time, yard dwelling time, pre-cool efficiency and cold storage. This real-time information enables the immediate improvement of operations that can reduce costs and enhance freshness.
Moving forward, Zest Technologies plans to divest or close its remaining subsidiaries except Zest Labs, which has now commercialized its software, reduced its development costs, and increased its spending in sales and marketing.
Indeed, the company has been working in this direction for more than a year. In September 2017, it was announced that the company’s board of directors had approved a new corporate strategy and changes to the company’s management structure with the goal of transitioning from a diversified holding company into one with a sole focus on Zest Labs.
“After extensive exploration of all strategic options related to Zest Labs, including a potential spin-off of the company, it became clear that the best way to ensure maximum shareholder value and capitalize on our main asset was to make it our sole focus,” said company founder and chairman Randy May. “By focusing solely on Zest, and our mission of modernizing the fresh food supply chain through technology, everyone is 100 percent aligned and focused on driving revenue from retail grocers, their key suppliers and their distribution partners to ensure we maximize the huge market opportunity in front of us.”
“Everyone we talked to through this process – from bankers and equity analysts to customers and potential suitors – affirmed our belief that the fresh food supply chain is ripe to be disrupted through digital transformation. The market opportunity is now,” added Peter Mehring, CEO of Zest Labs.
The payout is evident through another announcement made in early December by Ocean Mist Farms, the largest grower of artichokes in North America, and a supplier of fresh vegetables throughout California, Arizona, and Mexico, stating that the company has engaged Zest Labs and will be utilizing its Zest Fresh™ technology to automate data collection on the condition of its produce.
“Zest Fresh gives us tremendous visibility and insight into our operations with specific process feedback to maximize product freshness,” said Chris Drew, vice president of operations at Ocean Mist Farms. “With Zest Fresh, the continuous operational visibility ensures we’re always delivering the freshest product to our customers.”
Now, at the turn of a new year, with a $10 million credit facility in-hand, Zest Technologies and Zest Labs have the capital backing necessary to fund the company’s continued growth and market development.
“Zest Labs will enter 2019 with industry-leading clients and customer prospects that can lead to significant revenue growth,” said Randy May, CEO of Ecoark. “This credit facility will help ensure that we can fund the investment necessary to execute against those opportunities, meeting the pace of interest we see in the market with commercial borrowings without diluting our shareholders equity. It is great to work with Trend Discovery Capital Management and align with their successful strategy of funding strong management teams with emerging technologies.”
-Lynda Kiernan