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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

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Farm-to-Table Delivery Service GrubMarket Raises $25M in New Funding

GrubMarket, a kind of on-demand farmer’s market that will deliver goods right to your door, announced it has raised $25 million in an oversubscribed C1 round (hat tip: TechCrunch). The round — originally meant to be $15 million — was led by WI Harper Group and Digital Garage, with participation from Evolv Ventures, Arancia International Inc., University Growth Fund, and CentreGold Capital. Existing investors also participated: ACE & Company, GGV Capital, Fusion Fund, Bascom Ventures. This latest round brings GrubMarket’s total funding to $89.1 million.

The company sources food directly from farmers then sells it online to individual consumers, businesses, and as wholesale to other businesses. Right now, the company counts WeWork and Whole Foods among its clients.

To use GrubMarket, one need only sign up for an account, fill a shopping cart, and pick a delivery date. You can also opt to pick your order up at a farmer’s market or in some cases directly from the seller. There’s no subscription required to use the site, which offers free delivery on orders over $39.99 and a $5.99 fee for smaller orders.

It’s not a bad deal for sellers, either, who can set up a virtual storefront in minutes on the GrubMarket site and get access to a potentially larger audience through GrubMarket’s customer base.

But as far as that customer base goes, GrubMarket will have to work hard to compete, as it has a growing amount of company in the farm-to-table-delivery space. Farmbox Direct ships its organic produce nationwide. Good Eggs raised a $50 million Series C round in May of 2018, and in Europe, and in the UK, Farmdrop closed a £10 million round to deliver its predominately organic and local goods to consumers.

GrubMarket, who is inching towards an IPO, told TechCrunch it plans to use the $25 million funding for new technology and more acquisitions. It’s done a couple of the latter, including Southern California’s Chasin Foods in January and FarmBox SF in 2016.

For now, the San Francisco-based company only serves counties in the Bay Area: Santa Clara County, San Mateo County, Alameda County, San Francisco County, Contra Costa, and Marin County.

Online Grocery Farmdrop Raises £10M to Expand Local Food Delivery

When I lived in London last year I used to get really excited when I saw a pale pink van pull up outside my flat. Because inside that van was a selection of local, (mostly) organic vegetables, fruits, cheeses, and bread from ethical grocery delivery service  Farmdrop.

Yesterday Farmdrop raised £10M ($13.3M) in a Series B round from investors including the founder of Skype, according to the Guardian. This brings their total funding to £17M ($22.6M). Founded in 2014 by Ben Pugh, an ex-broker, the London-based company plans to use its funds to expand to the north of England and double their delivery area. They currently deliver to London, Bristol, and Bath.

According to their website, 80% of Farmdrop’s produce comes from within 100 miles of their delivery radius. Their meat is all free-range, and at least 70% of the price of each head of lettuce or grass-fed burger goes back to the producer. According to Pugh, the average retailer only pays farmers at most 50% of the final price. And if that weren’t enough, Farmdrop’s vans are also electric!

In addition to fruit, vegetables, and meat, Farmdrop offers more variety than, say, an Imperfect Produce or Good Eggs. The 2,000 products on offer also include organic home cleaning products, baby food, pantry staples, beer and wine, and bakery items.

By eliminating wholesalers and retailers from the supply chain, Farmsdrop is able to offer high-quality food at a price that is pretty competitive with big retailers — and it hasn’t been sitting on a shelf for days on end.

Farmdrop doesn’t require a subscription or a minimum spend (though they do add £4 to any order under £30). Customers can choose a 1-hour delivery window for a small fee (it’s free if their order is over £80), or else select a 6-hour time slot. The day before delivery, the driver will send an updated 60-minute window for their arrival.

Clearly Farmdrop doesn’t have the instant gratification or convenience of a 2-hour Amazon/Whole Foods/Albertsons/etc grocery delivery. (The fastest turnaround they have is next-day delivery, which is available for orders before noon.) However, their recent raise signifies that there are enough people that don’t mind dealing with a little extra inconvenience in exchange for ethically sourced, high-quality produce.

For those who don’t want to/don’t have time to trek to the farmers market but still want to buy local foods, Farmdrop, like Good Eggs and Farmstead in the U.S., is a good option. Though it seems they have updated their van aesthetics.