US-based food preservation technology developer Hazel Technologies secured $13m on Monday in a series B round featuring Asahi Kasei Ventures, chemicals and materials producer Asahi Kasei’s corporate venturing unit.
Venture capital firm Pangaea Ventures led the round, which included S2G Ventures, Grantham Foundation, Rhapsody Venture Partners (RVP), Serra Ventures, Valley Oak Investments, Climate Impact Capital and ImpactAssets.
Hazel is working on sachets that will release a vapour that extends the shelf-life of fruit and vegetables with which they are packed. The technology has undergone more than 100 trials and Hazel has signed deals with produce exporters including Mission Avocado and Frieda’s.
The capital will go to recruitment and the expansion of Hazel’s product range and technologies. The company said it has now raised $17.8m since it was founded in 2015.
S2G Ventures led Hazel’s $3.3m series A round in March 2018, investing alongside RVP, Serra Ventures, Valley Oak and Climate Impact Capital.
The series A followed $800,000 in seed capital from RVP, Valley Oak and VentureWell in March 2017, and a $600,000 development grant from US Department of Agriculture’s Small Business Innovation Research Program seven months later.
Hazel CEO Aidan Mouat said: “This new financing brings in resources, both financial and strategic, that will grow Hazel from its current early commercial stage to become a profitable, world-leading provider of shelf life extension products.
“We have delivered a solution that works both economically and environmentally, increasing efficiencies across the entire supply chain, and now we are able to roll these out to address food spoilage in multibillion-dollar markets internationally.”
