Ryp Labs Secures $8.1 Million in Oversubscribed Series A Funding Round to Fight Global Food Waste

 

KIRKLAND, WA (November 22, 2023) – Ryp Labs, the Seattle-based climate-tech startup committed to extending food life and ending food waste, today announced it exceeded its Series A funding goal of $7.5 million, securing an $8.1 million investment led by King Philanthropies with participation from Good Investors, BCP Ventures, Argosy Foundation, Ocean Born Foundation and others. 

 

Global food waste is one of the largest contributors to the climate crisis. If food waste was a country, it would have the third-largest carbon footprint. Ryp Labs’ products focus on extending the shelf life of fresh produce, thereby strengthening economic outcomes while reducing food waste emissions. Their original technology, StixFresh, is a food label sticker that can be applied to produce or packaging to slow down over-ripening and spoilage.

 

The oversubscribed Series A funding will expand the tech company’s research and development, product development, and commercial teams, fund operational expansion and manufacturing, and support commercial launch with growers, global retailers, and distributors.

  

“With this simple and innovative technology, we can positively affect the entire food value chain with solutions that are safe, effective, and easy to adopt,” said Ryp Labs CEO Moody Soliman. “Our vision is to put an end to food waste and be at the forefront of global climate impact. I’m exceptionally grateful to our investors, who share our commitment to advancing the technologies needed to ensure a sustainable future.”  

 

“We are thrilled to support this category-creating business,” said Kartick Kumar, Managing Director at King Philanthropies and Ryp Labs Board Member. “Ryp Labs has built a solution that has the power to make food waste and post-harvest loss a thing of the past. As Ryp Labs continues to execute and grow, we believe the company will have a tremendous impact on the climate crisis and the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.”

 

“Nearly one third of all food produced in the world is either lost or wasted,” said Richard Azarnia, Director at The Good Investors. “To address this staggering reality, Ryp Labs has developed innovative solutions that are easy to implement, affordable, scalable and applicable in both mature and emerging markets. Our investment in Ryp Labs fits perfectly in our portfolio of investments that target system change.”

 

“Argosy Foundation seeks, supports and invests in innovative approaches to tackle the challenges of our communities, and encourages applied technology solutions,” said John Abele, Founder of the Argosy Foundation and Co-Founder of Boston Scientific. “We are excited to partner with Ryp Labs as they address systemic food waste, which ultimately helps build a system that serves, honors and protects the earth.” 

 

“Given the amount of global food waste and methane emissions from landfills, Ryp Labs is at the center of solving one of the essential issues in the fight against climate change and global food security,” said Martin Schwab, Co-Founder and Head of Ocean Born Impact. “We are keenly focused on continuing to support Moody and his team in growing their business and fulfilling their full impact potential.”

 

“In addition to fruits and vegetables, our long-term objective is to provide food waste reduction solutions across the food and agriculture industries which will include seafood, meat, poultry, eggs, dairy and more,” Soliman added. “Beyond the food industry, this technology has the potential to expand to other industries including home goods, healthcare, and biotech, to tackle microbial related issues prevalent throughout these industries.”

 

About Ryp Labs

Founded in 2017, Ryp Labs’ mission is to reduce food waste globally. Being a part of the solution to the growing threat of climate change is at the top of their priority list, followed by helping more people at every socio-economic level thrive by having access to healthy food. Their flagship products, StixFreshTM and Shelf-DefenseTM, stickers and sachets, can be applied anywhere along the supply chain: grower/producer, distributor, retail, or consumer level. Ryp Labs was one of the top companies included in the Cleantech 50 to Watch list and was awarded the Top Global Startup Award at the UN Climate Change Conference, COP27. For more information, please visit ryplabs.com.

 

About King Philanthropies

King Philanthropies backs high-performing ventures working to solve the world's toughest challenges. King Philanthropies aims to make an outsized impact at the intersection of climate change and extreme poverty. For more information, please visit kingphilanthropies.org.

 

Contact

media@ryplabs.com

 

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