Forbes | November 27, 2024
David Prosser
Fresho, the order management platform company for the wholesale fresh food industry, will today announce that it has raised $17 million of Series B funding as it expands into new markets and increases its investment in technology. The business, co-founded in 2015 by James Andronis and Huw Birrell, believes artificial intelligence (AI) offers new opportunities for growth.
Forbes first profiled Fresho in 2022 as it revealed details of its $10 million Series A round. The company has built a software platform that sits between wholesalers selling fresh products such as fruit, vegetables and seafood and the restaurants that order from them each night. The traditional practice in the sector has been for chefs and restaurant owners to place their orders late in the evening – following the day’s service – requiring wholesalers to work through the night manually inputting orders into their systems ready for fulfillment the next day. Fresho’s platform, by contrast, automates and standardises this process.
The company has grown rapidly since its Series A round and now works with 53,000 venues each month, providing them with access to more than 1,500 supplies in the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand. Order numbers on the platform have now gone above 10 million a year and Fresho’s revenues have grown 200% since the Series A fundraising. Wholesalers pay a monthly fee to use the platform, with the exact amount varying according to the value of orders they receive. Restaurants can use Fresho for free.
“Traditionally, this industry has been relatively slow to embrace new technologies but that has begun to change,” says Andronis. “In a world of thinner margins, rising prices and labour shortages, restaurant owners need to find new ways to operate more efficiently; we’re also seeing a new generation of owners who are younger and more willing to implement new technology.”
On AI, for example, Fresho points to a new system it has introduced that is capable of processing orders from restaurant owners however they are placed – from voicemails left on the wholesaler’s phones to text messages or emails. The system is capable of interpreting all these instructions, converting them into text, and then putting them on the system for processing. “It’s all about applying technology to real-life problems,” Andronis adds.
Fresho’s appeal to restaurants is that it gives them easy access to a wide range of suppliers with live pricing and real-time availability. For wholesalers, meanwhile, there is the possibility of improving productivity, reducing anti-social working hours and eliminating repetitive manual work.
Birrell sees further innovation as vital to maintaining Fresho’s edge. “By investing in AI and emerging technologies, we’re not just enhancing operational efficiency,” he says. “We’re enabling our customers to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving market.”
The company is also committed to growth in the US, where its business has largely expanded so far through word-of-mouth referrals and inbound requests. Fresho currently provides its platform to customers in Texas, New York and California but intends to launch an on-the-ground team in the US next year.
Today’s fundraising takes the total amount of money raised by the company to around $50 million. The round saw both new and existing shareholders invest, and was led by Geoff Tarrant, the co-founder and former executive chairman of Payapps, a construction software firm acquired by Autodesk for $600 million in 2024. Tarrant will also join the company’s board as part of the transaction. “The software platform Fresho has built, together with recent AI advances, will provide benefits for all participants in the fresh food market.”
