Impact Tech | June 16, 2022

Strella Biotechnology secures $8 million to reduce produce waste

Roodgally Senatus
ImpactAlpha Editor

Roodgally Senatus

ImpactAlpha, June 16 — Investments in “demand planning,” to better understand the perishability of food products, for example, are on the upswing, ReFED’s Alejandro Enamorado wrote in a guest post on ImpactAlpha this week (see, “What $8 billion in food waste investments tells us about what’s next”).

Philadelphia-based Strella Biotechnology, whose biosensors help measure the ripeness of produce, has raised $8 million in a round led by Millennium New Horizons, with participation from Google Ventures and Mark Cuban. The technology helps growers and retailers monitor and maintain produce freshness from harvest to grocery store shelf. “More and more retailers are making waste reduction their top priority,” said Millennium’s Ray Cheng.

Circular economy

Other startups are raising capital to create value from waste. Australia’s Scipher Technologies scored $15 million to recycle electronic waste. In Oakland, Calif., SolarCycle snagged $6.6 million to recover vital materials from used solar panels.