*** First Published on October 5, 2017. Updated March 19, 2018 to include additional funding.***
Farmstead, a new artificial intelligence-powered farm to doorstep grocery delivery startup has raised $4.8 million in seed funding from Resolute Ventures, Social Capital, Y Combinator, SV Angel and Joe Montana’s Liquid 2 Ventures.
Farmstead claims to source and deliver “farm fresh” food in under an hour. The San Mateo, CA-based operation says it has delivered 15,000 orders in the Bay Area in its first year of operation.
As opposed to a large, centralized distribution centers, Farmstead uses a network of “micro-warehouses,” which its delivery team navigates around using algorithms that optimize routes incorporating real-time traffic information.
According to Farmstead, the back-end operations of the firm are designed to reduce food waste. The company uses AI and machine learning to predict customers’ future orders and allow the company to source only what it will sell, reducing waste.
The company has also made several efforts to minimize disposable packaging – a major complaint among grocery delivery and meal kit customers – using reusable ice packs, bags, and milk bottles.
Other online farmers market operations in the US include San Francisco’s Good Eggs, Los Angeles’s Milk & Eggs, and New York’s Our Harvest and Rustic Roots
This space has also seen a few recent casualties in Brooklyn’s Farmigo, which ceased operations in July 2016, and Good Eggs’ New York operation, which shut down in August 2015.
