Apeel Sciences was launched in 2012 to put a dent in the $2.6 trillion worth of food that spoils and is wasted each year. Disruptor50
Funding: $110 millionIndustry: Agriculture, food harvestingApeel Sciences was launched in 2012 to put a dent in the $2.6 trillion worth of food that spoils and is wasted each year. The Goleta, California-based company has developed an edible substance that when applied to the outside of harvested fruits and vegetables, creates an invisible shield that can double their lifespan without refrigeration. This, the company says, greatly reduces food waste and helps preserve natural resources.
Founder and CEO James Rogers has a background in material engineering and, as an undergraduate at Carnegie Mellon, studied the effects of water and oxygen on steel. When later on he began doing work at the University of California, Santa Barbara, he would drive past rich harvesting fields and wonder if water and oxygen could affect the life of the produce being grown.
Apeel has raised $110 million in funding, including $70 million in August from a round led by Viking Global. Other investors are Andreessen Horowitz, Upfront Ventures, DBL Partners, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation. Last year, the company also added Walter Robb, co-founder and former CEO of Whole Foods Market, to its board.
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