YottaMark Receives $24 Million in Funding for Leading Food Traceability Solution

REDWOOD CITY, CA–(Marketwire – Aug 15, 2012) – YottaMark Inc., provider of HarvestMark, the industry-leading fresh food traceability and insights platform, today announced the closing of a $24 million Series D growth round. The round was led by Westbury Partners, and includes new investor Fairhaven Capital, as well as participation from prior investors ATA Ventures, Thomvest Ventures and Granite Ventures. YottaMark will use the new investment to accelerate sales and marketing of the HarvestMark platform and meet the growing demand for traceability and transparency within the food supply chain. The new round brings YottaMark’s total funding to $53 million.

Ninety-two percent of shoppers choose their grocery store based on the quality of the produce department¹, and these same shoppers, concerned about health and wellness, want to know when, where and how their food was grown. These dynamics reinforce the need for an efficient, transparent fresh food supply chain. HarvestMark’s deep analytics and unprecedented visibility empower food suppliers to optimize the supply chain, and allow them to connect directly with shoppers, building brand trust and loyalty.

HarvestMark solutions are used today by 300 brands, sourcing fresh food from 4,000 farms from Canada to Argentina. Customers include The Kroger Co., Driscoll’s Strawberry Associates, Sun World and Calavo. HarvestMark not only helps customers meet government and industry requirements; proprietary HarvestMark analytics have the potential to drive billions of dollars of new annual profit for retailers, food service operators and fresh food producers. 

“At Westbury we focus on investing in proven companies succeeding in high-growth industries,” said James W. Schubauer II, president and COO of Westbury Partners. “We see a global need for food supply chain insights and traceability in response to heightened interest in health and wellness, sustainability, and supply chain transparency. HarvestMark fits squarely in our profile as the market leader, and we’re pleased to provide the capital needed to secure and extend their position.”

Schubauer will serve as a director on YottaMark’s board, along with Paul Ciriello, founder and managing director of Fairhaven Capital.

Beyond the supply chain benefit, consumers use HarvestMark on smartphones and the Web to know their food is fresh and safe, learn where it’s grown and even connect directly with the farmers who produce their food. HarvestMark appears on nearly 3 billion food packages annually, engaging shoppers and bringing the voice of the consumer into product and brand decisions.

“This funding enables us to continue building on the tremendous demand we’re seeing for our solutions, and advance proprietary analytics that deliver actionable insights to drive retailer and producer profits,” said J. Scott Carr, YottaMark CEO.

“The fresh food industry is an emerging market with tremendous opportunity, and HarvestMark is capitalizing on the value of big data to bring food suppliers significant return on their investment,” said Hatch Graham, co-founder and managing director of ATA Ventures and YottaMark board member. “We saw the potential of this platform when we led the first round of professional financing, and have been pleased to partner with management as they have built a strong leadership position. HarvestMark is the first solution that links the first and last mile of the perishable food supply chain, addressing needs at every point from farm to kitchen, and this company is making rapid gains in the $100 billion U.S. fresh produce industry.”

For more information, or to trace your food, visit harvestmark.com.

About HarvestMark Traceability Solutions
HarvestMark® is the industry-leading fresh food traceability and insights platform from YottaMark, Inc. HarvestMark solutions deliver transparency and unparalleled insight into the fresh supply chain that drives sales and profit. Designed for a wide range of fresh products, the HarvestMark platform supports industry standard case- and pallet-level traceability. HarvestMark Connect extends the platform to individual sales units — driving loyalty by connecting farm to fork, speeding food safety communication, and reconnecting shoppers with the people who grow and sell their food. To date, more than 4 billion packages of fresh food have been enabled with HarvestMark traceability, from the produce aisle to the meat case. Visit HarvestMark.com, download the free HarvestMark Food Traceability App for iPhone and Android, or call us at call 1-866-76-TRUST (or +1.650.264.6200). For more information about YottaMark, Inc., visit www.YottaMark.com.

¹ Source: Wall Street Journal, October 2011 (http://on.wsj.com/rmKBBz)