This North Philly-based ‘ugly’ produce startup just raised $16.5M

A North Philly-based produce service that gathers and ships out fruits and vegetables that would likely go to waste otherwise just raised millions to expand its delivery service to much of the East Coast.

Misfits Market, started last summer by Philly native Abhi Ramesh, sources produce from organic farmers that won’t get sold to a grocery store, usually because they’re cosmetically imperfect.

Since launch, the Misfits Market team has grown from four delivery people to a current staff of about 200 people delivering produce to 11 different states. About 100 new jobs were added between April and May of this year, Ramesh told Technical.ly Philly.

“We intend to keep our business centralized in the Greater Philadelphia area as we focus on serving the entire Eastern Seaboard,” he said.

And with a $16.5 million infusion of Series A financing, the company’s aiming to add more jobs to the Philadelphia area. It recently moved its headquarters across the river to a 140,800-square-foot facility in Pennsauken, New Jersey, but maintains its facility on Germantown Avenue in Nicetown.

The flush of capital will go toward expanding Misfits Market’s delivery service to Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

It follows the company’s expansion to Ohio and Maine in May and is part of the brand’s plans to expand to all of the Eastern U.S. by the end of 2019.

A Misfits Market spokesperson wouldn’t disclose who the investors are, though TechCrunch reports that Greenoaks Capital led the round.

The current delivery service offers box options in two different sizes, one that serves one to two people for a week, and another that serves a larger household of four to five people a week. The contents of the box are based on what’s in season, and customers can subscribe to a delivery once a week or once every two weeks.

“By making misfit produce more accessible and affordable, we’re able to reduce food waste at a scale that creates positive and lasting impact,” Ramesh said.

Another ugly produce company delivering in the Philly area is Hungry Harvest, the “Shark Tank“-funded delivery outfit based in Baltimore.