Participated · Series D · Oct 2020

GrubMarket is an AI-driven technology and B2B e-commerce company that digitizes, automates, and streamlines the American and global food supply chain. Its offerings include enterprise SaaS such as an Inventory Management AI Agent and Reporting AI Agent, as well as a tech-enabled marketplace that serves customers in all 50 U.S. states and more than 70 countries. Recent acquisitions—Coast Citrus, Delta Fresh Produce, and Procurant—have expanded its reach; Procurant alone facilitates $5.5 billion in GMV for over 850 customers across 14 countries. The firm operates with what it calls a self-sustaining, profitable model and has been recognized on the CNBC Disruptor 50 list for three consecutive years. It runs the Sustainable California initiative, which promotes organic farming and has funded hundreds of thousands of tree plantings. Backed by a $4.5 billion pre-money valuation, the company plans to invest further in talent, financial infrastructure, technology development, and additional acquisitions to expand across North America, South America, Europe, and Africa.

Participated · Debt Financing · Jan 2018

Sun Basket provides a meal-kit delivery service focused on fresh, organic and sustainable ingredients. Founded in 2014 by Adam Zbar and chef Justine Kelly and headquartered in San Francisco, the company emphasizes health, ease, and personalization. Sun Basket reports rapid growth, citing an 80% compound annual growth rate over the last three years and what it calls the best unit economics in the space. Management has described the company's Series D as the most challenging fundraise in its history, and the firm has repeatedly delayed a planned IPO. The latest funding will be used to expand offerings to include breakfast, lunch and dinner personalized for any lifestyle. Despite difficulties and high-profile failures in the meal-kit market, Sun Basket continues to attract venture investment and has raised $125M in total funding. Sun Basket operates a healthy meal-kit service delivering organic produce and sustainable ingredients with recipes tailored to customers’ dietary needs and preferences. The company personalizes diet-specific meal plans by leveraging transaction data and stated lifestyle requirements. At the beginning of Q1 2018 Sun Basket reported a $250m annual revenue run rate. Management says the new capital will be used to advance its technology to provide more choice and greater personalization. Sun Basket plans to add Vegan, Mediterranean, and Pescatarian menu offerings and to launch new, larger distribution centers on the East Coast and in the Midwest in Q1 2018. The distribution expansion is intended to reach 98% of the continental U.S. Sun Basket provides meal kits with recipes and pre-measured organic ingredients targeted at customers following gluten-free, paleo, or vegetarian diets. Executive Chef Justine Kelly develops the company’s recipes. The company says it uses boxes, bags and insulation that are 100% recyclable and compostable and is investigating new packaging materials and design changes to further reduce its footprint. Sun Basket recently opened a Midwest facility that enables delivery to 98% of U.S. addresses and which the company says makes it the largest direct-to-consumer organic food provider in the country. Management highlights strong customer loyalty, citing analysis that suggests up to three times the retention rate of other players over a 24-month period. The company plans to use new funding to ramp up marketing and scale operations further. Sun Basket delivers pre-measured meal kits focused on "clean eating," offering gluten-free, paleo, vegetarian and other nutritionist-approved recipes created by Executive Chef Justine Kelly. The company pairs chefs with nutritionists and data scientists to categorize recipes, vet ingredients and guide logistics. It advertises 100% recyclable or compostable packaging, organic non‑GMO produce, humanely raised antibiotic- and hormone-free meat, and Seafood Watch–approved seafood. Sun Basket currently reaches more than 80% of the U.S. and plans to build a Midwest distribution hub to expand delivery to over 90% of the country and speed fulfillment. The startup is evaluating automation technologies to assist picking and packing, intending to put robots to work alongside people. Sun Basket has raised $43 million in equity to date, including the recent Series C. Sun Basket is a San Francisco–based organic meal kit provider founded in 2014 by Adam Zbar and Justine Kelly. It delivers organic, non‑GMO ingredients and weekly recipes personalized to customers’ lifestyles and diets. The service offers Gluten‑Free, Paleo and Vegetarian options. The company is rolling out 100% recyclable and compostable packaging to reduce shipping waste nationwide. Sun Basket plans to use new funding to open a third distribution center and build a procurement platform to support growth. The recent Series B financing of $15m will be used to accelerate expansion.

Participated · Equity · Jun 2017

Edeniq develops processes and technologies, including its Pathway Technology, to produce and measure low-cost cellulosic ethanol that can be integrated into existing biorefineries with no capital investment. The company sells or licenses its solutions to U.S. ethanol plants and positions them as operationally efficient ways to increase ethanol output. Edeniq expects to more than double average customer cellulosic ethanol production over the coming year through plant optimization and technology enhancements being introduced as early as Q3 2017. Customers currently average just over 1% cellulosic ethanol and a 2% lift in total ethanol production, while best-performing plants have exceeded 2% cellulosic ethanol and a 3% lift in total production. The company’s pipeline has reached 27 plants; four are registered with the EPA for D3 RIN generation and the remainder have applied or are in trial validation. Registered co-producing plants represent approximately 400 million gallons of total ethanol production and have generated well over $1 million in D3 RIN credits less than halfway through the calendar year. Edeniq states a 120 million gallon-per-year plant can increase revenue by up to $10 million or more through integration of its technology without additional capex. Edeniq develops Pathway, a capital-light technology that produces low-cost cellulosic sugars and cellulosic ethanol from corn kernel fiber and integrates with existing fermenters at ethanol plants. The company is a leader in analytical methods required for EPA registration of co-produced cellulosic ethanol; three ethanol plants received EPA cellulosic registrations after deploying Pathway within the past four months. Edeniq sells or licenses its technologies to U.S. biorefineries and plans to use recent financing to support rapid growth in its Pathway cellulosic ethanol business, accelerate customer acquisition, and add resources for existing customers. The company is investing in sales, field services, laboratory services, and R&D and is developing technology enhancements to potentially increase the amount of cellulosic ethanol eligible for D3 RINs and other regulatory incentives. Edeniq was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Visalia, California, with a field office in Omaha, Nebraska. Edeniq develops combined mechanical and biological technologies to break down biomass and liberate cellulosic sugars that can be converted into ethanol, chemicals, and other products. Its PATHWAY™ Platform increases ethanol yield at existing plants by 3–6% through more complete conversion of starch and corn kernel fiber. The company owns and operates a two ton per day pilot plant in Visalia, California, and is constructing a 20 ton per day demonstration plant with Usina Vale in São Paulo State, Brazil. Edeniq has a partnership with Global Bio-chem to integrate technologies in a commercial demonstration plant in Jilin Province, China, targeting production of 50,000 metric tons per year of sugars from corn stover. The company sells or licenses its capital-light, operationally efficient solutions to biorefineries in the U.S. and Brazil and plans to roll out new products and expand into new markets. Edeniq raised more than $16 million in equity to support PATHWAY™ expansion and international demonstration projects. Edeniq builds patented mechanical and biological systems — including its Cellunator mills and Pathway enzymes — that break down corn and non-food plant material into sugars for cellulosic ethanol and other renewable products. Its technologies are designed as low‑cost, bolt‑on additions to existing corn ethanol plants or for integration into new cellulosic facilities. The company operates a pilot plant in Visalia, California (built with Logos Technologies under a $25M program 80% funded by the U.S. Department of Energy) that can process two dry tons per day of feedstock and produce about 50,000 gallons per year of cellulosic ethanol. Edeniq says it is working with facilities across California and the U.S., creating the potential for hundreds of millions of gallons of cellulosic ethanol production. The company recently secured a $3.9 million grant from the California Energy Commission to advance enhancements to its cellulosic ethanol technology. Edeniq has also raised over $32 million in additional funding and entered a partnership with Flint Hills Resources Renewables. The company is headquartered in Visalia, CA, with locations in Omaha, Nebraska and the state of Sao Paulo in Brazil. EdeniQ develops processes and products that unlock sugars from renewable natural resources to supply raw material for sustainable chemical and fuel production. The company is led by President and CEO Brian Thome, CTO Dr. Thomas Griffin, VP of Business Development Peter Kilner, and CFO Scott Janssen. EdeniQ is based in Visalia, California and also has locations in Omaha, Nebraska and the state of Sao Paolo in Brazil. It recently raised over $30m in additional debt and equity financing. The equity round included existing investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Cyrus Capital, The Westly Group, Angeleno Group, I2BF Global Ventures and Element Partners, alongside new investor Flint Hills Resources Renewables LLC. As part of the financing, Jeremy Bezdek of Flint Hills Resources joined EdeniQ's board of directors.

Led · Debt Financing · Apr 2016

Presto Phoenix develops a voice artificial intelligence platform purpose-built for quick-service restaurant (QSR) drive-thrus. Its technology aims to increase restaurant revenue, cut labor costs, boost staff productivity, and improve the overall guest experience by automating order taking. The company positions its product as an enterprise solution that can be rapidly deployed across large QSR chains. A graduate of Y Combinator, Presto Phoenix plans to use newly raised capital to scale operations and accelerate product development. Management highlights the platform’s ability to serve high-volume, multi-location operators, although no user or revenue figures were disclosed. The firm’s recent funding underscores growing investor interest in applied voice AI within the food-service sector.

Led · Debt Financing · Mar 2015

Sirrus closed $6.5M in Series B financing. The round was co-led by Braemar Energy Ventures and GM Ventures, with participation from existing investors Arsenal Venture Partners and Mitsui Global Investments. The company intends to use the funds to complete process development at pilot scale, design modular facilities and support commercialization of its platform of reactive monomers marketed under the brand names Chemilian™ and Forza™. Sirrus develops monomers and derivatives that allow cycle time reduction, energy savings, and new material selection across automotive, building and construction, electronics, packaging and hygiene. Founded in 2009 and based in Cincinnati, Ohio, the company is led by CEO Jeff Uhrig. It was previously known as Bioformix. Sirrus develops a platform of 1,1‑dicarbonyl substituted alkenes and commercial monomer products (Chemilian™ and Forza™) targeted at adhesives, sealants, coatings, resins and related markets. The technology emphasizes tunable physical properties, fast ambient‑temperature cure speeds, and benefits such as cycle time reduction, energy savings and expanded material choices. Sirrus is pursuing further commercialization of its monomer and polymer technologies and aims to serve announced and soon‑to‑be announced manufacturing partners. To support that commercialization and provide additional working capital, Sirrus secured debt financing in addition to recent equity. In February 2015 the company closed a Series B equity round led by Braemar Energy Ventures and General Motors Ventures, and its total invested capital exceeded $35 million. The company says the new financing provides additional runway to execute its growth plan and advance chemistry‑enabled manufacturing solutions across automotive, building and construction, electronics, packaging and hygiene.