Elevate Foods secures US$525,000 pre-seed funding to revolutionise global food supply chains

Singapore, 27 March 2024 – Elevate Foods, South Asia’s first platform for small- and medium-sized farm-gate processors, announces the successful closure of its pre-seed funding round, led by climate-focused investors Wavemaker Impact (WMi). The investment of US$525,000 will catalyse Elevate Foods’ vision of establishing a globally trusted network for processed agri-produce. With this capital infusion, Elevate Foods is poised to assemble a specialised team focused on sustainable food systems and enhanced quality management tools, while building its footprint across the Gulf and Southeast Asian (SEA) markets.

The global food supply chain grapples with unprecedented inefficiencies, witnessing alarming levels of food loss and waste. Nearly one-third of all food produced annually is lost or wasted, translating to a staggering US$1 trillion in economic losses. Enabling more upstream processing of agri-produce, and thus reducing perishability at the farm-gate, emerges as a pivotal lever in addressing food loss. Despite the growing demand for processed produce globally, buyers remain cautious about the quality standards upheld by smaller food processors.

Elevate Foods’ innovative business model intervenes at the beginning of the supply chain, creating a more sustainable and traceable solution for agri-produce buyers while working with farm-gate manufacturers to upgrade their operations and enforce stringent quality standards. With a vision to achieve US$100 million in revenue and mitigate 100 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the future, Elevate Foods aims to emerge as a leading food processor in the region, without owning factory assets.

“We are grateful for the successful completion of our pre-seed funding round with the support of Wavemaker Impact,” said Gayatri Bhatia, CEO and Founder of Elevate Foods. “This investment underscores our commitment to building a more sustainable and resilient food ecosystem, facilitating the upgradation of farm-gate processors to enhance their market access.”

“We see great potential in Elevate Foods’ creative approach of working through developing Indian farm-gate processors to tackle the trillion dollar food waste problem, which is responsible for about 4.5 Gigatonnes of Carbon Dioxide Emissions Equivalent (GtCO2e) globally,” said Quentin Vaquette, Co-Founding Partner at Wavemaker Impact. “By addressing the challenges faced by processors through greater profit-purpose alignment, Elevate Foods is poised to unlock new opportunities that will drive meaningful change in both the agricultural and food processing sectors.”

“Gayatri’s deep experience across the various food-related sectors, coupled with her passion for climate impact, is a potent combination to realise Elevate Foods’ potential in becoming South Asia’s largest food processing platform for small-to-medium enterprises. We’re excited to lead this investment in Elevate Foods.” 

In alignment with Elevate Foods’ mission, The Asian Food Factory, a regional food distribution agency with its own supermarket chain, Bazaar, across Singapore and other parts of Southeast Asia, expressed enthusiasm for the partnership. 

“We are excited to collaborate with Elevate Foods for the launch of our private label products,” said Abhay Sharma, CEO. “Elevate Foods’ network of processors and their commitment to enforcing quality norms perfectly aligns with our vision of delivering geo-tagged, authentic products to our customers”

Embracing transparency, traceability, and sustainability, Elevate Foods is poised to disrupt traditional food processing paradigms. By forging strategic partnerships with stakeholders across the value chain, Elevate Foods is positioned to emerge as a global leader in the fight against food loss and waste.