Loamy raises $6M to flag produce before a buyer rejects it
Loamy closed a $6 million seed round led by Zeal Capital Partners. It says its platform has cut product rejections in half for growers, packers and distributors.
Loamy, a Los Angeles startup that sells operations software to produce growers, packers, and distributors, has raised $6 million in seed funding led by Zeal Capital Partners. The round, announced Oct. 27, brings the company’s total funding to $10 million.
Once a load misses a buyer’s spec after it ships, the grower has about a day to find another buyer, and the fruit often goes in the trash, according to Loamy. The company says its software spots fruit headed outside spec weeks earlier, while it can still go to a processor or juicer, and that it has cut product rejections in half for its customers.
Retailers set specs for color, size, testing, volume, and delivery day, and weather alone can push a crop outside them. Freezes last winter cost some Central Florida strawberry growers about 20% of their crop and left other produce at risk of scarring and smaller sizes, FreightWaves noted.
“A strawberry grower puts about $35,000 into every acre and can still watch a $40,000 load go in the trash because nobody knew it would miss the buyer’s spec,” said Charles Julius, Loamy’s co-founder and CEO.
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