Polish foodtech Fresh Inset secures €2.1M in Series A round

Torun-based foodtech startup Fresh Inset has secured €2.1 million (10 million PLN) during its Series A round of funding. The company develops a technology that extends the shelf-life of fresh fruit and vegetables, MamStartup reports.

• Founded in 2018, Fresh Inset provides a wide range of solutions to reduce food waste and increase profits. The company’s formula 1-MCP protects crops from the damaging effect of ethylene during storage, shipment, and at the retail market. These products can be applied to all crops at any latitude.
• The 1-MCP substance is released directly from the original Vidre+ sticker under the influence of moisture naturally secreted by the fruit. Thanks to this, the process does not require airtight warehouses or cold rooms, as it was before.

“If food waste were a country, it would be the third-largest producer of greenhouse gases, after the US and China. Currently, one-third of all food produced in the world goes to waste. In the EU countries, food waste amounts to 88 million tonnes per year, or €143 billion. This is more than enough to feed all the starving people on our planet,”

Krzysztof Czaplicki, co-founder and board member of Fresh Inset, explains.

• Fresh Inset’s Series A funding consisted of two tranches amounting to over €2.1 million (10 million PLN). The latest transaction was increased from €425,000 to more than €1 million due to faster-than-expected development and the huge interest of investors. 100% of the increased round was acquired by the existing shareholders, which the company does not name.
• Currently, fruit and vegetables with the Fresh Inset protection are already sold in Argentina and Pakistan. The company has already registered its product in the United States, European Union, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, and Peru.
• Fresh Inset plans to raise another capital in the first half of 2023. Right now, both Polish and foreign VC funds have expressed their interest in the round. The company wants to raise around €1 to €2 million (5-10 million PLN).