• Farmers Business Network

  Participated · Series D · Nov 2017

  Farmers Business Network (FBN) is an agricultural marketplace serving a network of over 117,000 farms across 187 million acres in the U.S. and Canada. The platform offers more than 7,200 products and delivers most orders within 24 to 72 hours; 35% of farmers shop with FBN and online input purchases are up 86% year-over-year. FBN has launched "Norm," a Large Language Model focused on agronomy and crop marketing inquiries, with plans for broader personalized support. The company is expanding private-label crop protection, biologicals, and nutrition offerings and enabling third-party sellers to reach members directly. FBN opened its marketplace to third-party seed offers and is growing its livestock marketplace with new feed, fencing, and farm and ranch supplies. In Canada, FBN expanded its wheat crop protection portfolio, added bulk liquid fertilizer and equipment financing, and plans to open two new distribution centers in 2026. Management states a goal to reduce a farm’s operating costs by 20% or more compared to brick-and-mortar retail. Farmers Business Network (FBN) operates a farmer-to-farmer agtech platform that offers FBN Direct (direct-to-farm inputs), FBN Financial (fintech and lending), ecommerce purchasing, and logistics. The company serves a network of more than 33,000 farmers who farm over 80 million acres across North America and Australia and employs over 800 people. FBN emphasizes price transparency on crop protection products, biologicals, seeds, technology, and services and runs on-farm R&D through its R&D Network. The company is investing in IP and technology for seed breeding, crop protection, biologicals, and robotics, and is expanding its Gradable platform to measure and verify carbon scores for grain and other crops. FBN plans to scale its fintech offerings with new land, operating and equipment loans and insurance products and to grow its direct-to-farm agriculture logistics network. It intends to hire over 350 new team members and use proceeds for general corporate and working capital purposes. Farmer’s Business Network (FBN) operates a direct-to-farm ag‑tech platform and farmer-to-farmer network that provides ecommerce purchasing, transparent pricing on inputs, and farm-focused services. Its FBN Direct range includes seed, crop protection and biologicals designed to reduce farmers' cost of production. FBN is building out a Crop Marketing and Financial Services (CMFS) platform to help farmers manage risk and access insurance, loans, marketing tools, and sustainability-related premiums and incentives. The company also offers financing options and timely pricing data to improve decision-making and competition in the supply chain. FBN has over 12,000 members farming more than 40 million acres across the U.S. and Canada, recently launched operations in Australia following the acquisition of Farmsave, and employs over 600 people. Offices are located in San Carlos, Calif.; Chicago, Ill.; Sioux Falls, S.D.; with a Canadian headquarters in High River, Alberta and an Australian headquarters in Perth. Farmers Business Network (FBN) operates a subscription-based, members-only social network that lets farmers share seed and crop data and upload and analyze data from drones, satellites, mobile apps and on‑ground sensors. Members pay $600 per year for access to pooled data and insights that help them choose seeds, pesticides and vendors. FBN also runs an e-commerce arm, selling herbicides and fungicides it sources directly and warehouses in nine company-owned facilities. The company has developed a marketing product to connect farmers with buyers for specialty crops; its members represent just shy of 5,000 farms managing roughly 16 million acres. FBN employs about 200 people across the U.S., is three years old, and is headquartered in San Carlos, California. Management says it will use new capital to hire, accelerate the business, push more aggressively into Canada, and possibly create some of the products it currently sells, while remaining a “data network first and foremost.” Farmer's Business Network began as a professional network for farmers and agronomists to anonymously share what they pay for seeds, fertilizers and other inputs and to exchange effectiveness information. The company applies crowdsourced price transparency to help farmers negotiate fairer prices and says it can save members up to 50% on inputs purchased through its service. FBN Direct (formerly FBN Procurement) lets users buy roughly 500 farm chemicals, fertilizers, seeds and seed treatments at prices members set; FBN sources products at those prices. Members can pick up supplies at nearby warehouses or have them shipped to their farms. The company announced a $40 million Series C this round, bringing total capital raised to $88 million. Investors named in coverage include GV and DBL Partners, Bow Capital, and earlier backers Acre Venture Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

• Chef'd

  Participated · Equity · Aug 2017

  Chef'd is a meal kit delivery service based in New York and El Segundo, California, founded in 2013 by CEO Kyle Ransford. The company delivers meals consumers can order from a wide selection of breakfasts, lunches and dinners tailored to different lifestyles, including meat-free, gluten-free, vegetarian and vegan options. It partners with chefs, culinary influencers and national brands and is also developing its own portfolio of dishes. Chef'd raised $35.2M in strategic funding to support its growth. The funding was reportedly led by Smithfield Foods, with participation from Campbell Soup and FreshDirect. The company intends to use the proceeds to expand operations. Chef'd operates a food delivery service that ships chef‑cooked recipe kits filled with fresh ingredients to customers' homes. The company offers over 200 recipes that accommodate all dietary needs, developed in partnership with celebrity chefs, restaurants, food bloggers and food media globally. Chef'd is led by Kyle Ransford and Jesse Langley. According to a regulatory filing, the company raised $12.27M in venture capital funding. The SEC filing notes 14 unnamed backers participated and cites a final target fixed at €17M. Chef'd says it will use the funds to expand operations and is hiring to support that growth. Chef'd operates a recipe-and-ingredient delivery service that lets customers buy individual meals (not a subscription) created in partnership with food publications and celebrity chefs. The company ran an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign last year to recruit early users. Founder and CEO Kyle Ransford said the new funding was led by Ransford and Chris Growney rather than traditional VCs, which the team says gives them freedom to avoid a forced subscription model. Chef'd can deliver nationwide today, though delivery days are more limited outside the West Coast. The company plans to open a fulfillment center in Philadelphia to enable East Coast deliveries on five days a week. Ransford declined to share total order or customer counts but said 30–40% of customers are returning, and a meaningful share reorder specific meals. Chef'd has now raised a total of $6.2 million.

• Habit Food Personalized

  Led · Equity · Oct 2016

  Habit is a personalized nutrition startup that uses data from an at-home DNA test kit to provide consumers tailored food recommendations. The company was set to launch in 2017 and is based in San Francisco. In the reported financing Habit received a $32 million investment from Campbell’s Soup Company, which is described as the startup’s sole investor. The article does not specify the financing instrument beyond calling it an investment or any operating metrics. Co-founder Neil Plummer published a blog about the startup that was referenced in the announcement. No other funding rounds, valuation, or use-of-proceeds details are provided in the article.

• Juicero

  Participated · Series B · Mar 2016

  Juicero builds an Internet-connected countertop device that cold-presses juice from single-use "packs" of prepped fruits and vegetables. Its $699 machine works with proprietary packs priced $4–$10 each, available through a Juicero subscription and currently sold only in California. Packs include a QR code so the company can track how much juice customers make and which recipes they favor; the app suggests recipes and pouches to buy. Founded by Organic Avenue co-founder Doug Evans, Juicero positions the product as a way to deliver organic, cold-pressed nutrition at home or in offices while reducing junk-food consumption. The company emphasizes hardware quality and design and sees its inventory-tracking data as useful to organic farmers for predicting demand. Financially, Juicero completed a $70 million Series B led by Artis Ventures and counts multiple prominent venture and strategic backers.

No current team members are available.