BROOKLYN, NY – Farmigo, an online service that connects consumers to farmers market food products, announced it had raised $16 million in series B financing led by Formation 8 Partners.
The company said this round of fundraising will enable the company to expand its business. Farmigo, which operates in New York, New Jersey and Northern California, is launching its service in the Seattle-Tacoma area on Oct. 14. The company delivers food orders to central neighborhood pick-up sites where people already gather, such as schools, work or even a private home.
The company is part of a growing business segment aimed at consumers who prefer farmers’ market fare to traditional supermarkets. Amazon recently began testing its farmers’ market food delivery initiative Farmers Market Direct in partnership with Fresh Nation. Amazon’s business model features a personal food shopper who goes to a different farmers’ market near the consumer to fulfill a food order, and then delivers the items to the consumer’s home or office.
“Through technology, we’re able to reconnect people to their food, to their local farmers and food makers, and to their communities,” said Benzi Ronen, CEO. “The food we’re able to source is the highest quality, since we collapse the long distribution chain of supermarkets and provide food straight from the producers’ harvests. This enables us to champion small independent farms and food makers and give them a larger cut.
“Our goal is to replace the antiquated supermarket model,” Ronen added. “We’re building a better food ecosystem that’s better for all of us — for our families, our communities, our farmers and the environment.”
Farmigo currently works with more than 150 producers to serve 15,000 customers per month in more than 350 neighborhoods. The company plans to add another 2,000 customers and 20 producers each month.
“Farmigo’s technology and community-driven distribution model allows it to reach more people in a way that’s affordable for consumers and sustainable from a business perspective,” said Joe Lonsdale, founding partner of Formation 8. “This is an extraordinary advantage over door-to-door delivery models that will be critical to win in the rapidly-changing food landscape.”
