Today, Upshop and Invafresh announce their merger, marking a significant milestone in the food retail industry. Together, they aim to address major food sector challenges: availability, affordability, and waste. The united entity, Upshop, aims to empower communities worldwide by enabling better access to fresh, safe, and affordable food, regardless of whether it’s prepared, perishable, or shelf stable.
The merger of Upshop and Invafresh is set to transform the landscape of food retail technology. The combined organization offers the first global retail enterprise operating platform built for the complexities of food. The platform will be used by more than 400 retailers in 35 countries, operating in over 50,000 stores, and impacting millions of associates and shoppers every day.
Retailers face increasing pressure to meet heightened operational and service expectations from suppliers, associates, and shoppers alike. The challenge of introducing more affordable, healthy options into stores has been compounded by issues with technology that associates have struggled to adopt. A unified Upshop platform addresses these challenges with a single app, empowering associates to efficiently “win their day” and deliver the best experience for shoppers.
Shamus Hines, CEO, expressed his vision for the future: “We do not settle for better; we strive for the best from our platform, our people, and our partnerships with food retailers. The impact our technology has on retailers’ supply chains means millions of families will have access to the freshest and healthiest food, every day.”
The unification comes at a critical inflection point for the food retail industry. FSMA204, a major FDA compliance requirement, is pushing the market to enhance data traceability capabilities. Upshop will be launching its solution formally at the end of July, combining the best of both organizations’ food safety product suites.
Additionally, food waste is a global challenge that needs a more comprehensive answer. Stores are in need of solutions that can support all steps in the food waste process – prevention, rescue and reporting. The combined organization is preparing to launch a global Food Waste Initiative powered by a leading product suite, unmatched analytics, and deep industry partnerships.
“By uniting the unparalleled innovation of two industry leaders in food retail technology, we’re poised to redefine what’s possible for the global community… retailers, associates and shoppers alike. We are intent on investments that bring profound impact to the industry. This is yet another huge step in Upshop’s mission to elevate the future of food retail on a global scale,” said Sarah Sommer, Co-Founder and Partner at Level Equity.
The merger of Invafresh and Upshop marks a significant leap forward in food retail technology, promising innovative solutions that will redefine best-in-class store operations and shopper experience. Retailers globally will have access to the market-leading solutions driving impact, such as:
- Fresh inventory and ordering management for a top 3 North American grocer which has driven 8-figure savings
- Powering the highest quality and most engaging fresh experience for Wegmans
- Enabling grocers such as Hy-Vee to flex their workforce for more efficient omnichannel order fulfillment
- Empowering retailers, such as Sobey’s, to take total control of DSD
- Launching an even more robust foodservice operations platform for convenience stores, supporting expanded prepared food offerings and omnichannel workflows
Advisors
Baird served as exclusive financial advisor to Invafresh, and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP served as legal counsel.
William Blair & Company LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to Upshop, and Goodwin Procter LLP served as legal counsel.
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For more information about Upshop and its latest innovation, please visit www.upshop.com/resources.
Mike Weber, CMO
813.849.1818
About Upshop
Upshop is the foremost provider of a SaaS platform designed to streamline forecasting, ordering, production, and inventory optimization processes for food retailers. Our unified platform simplifies and enhances associate tasks, promoting smarter and more interconnected operations across Fresh, Center, DSD, and eCommerce departments. With over 150 retailers and 30,000 stores relying on our mission-critical operations platform, customers have witnessed substantial enhancements in sales, shrinkage reduction, food safety, and sustainability throughout their stores. To learn more about the Total Store Operations Experience, visit https://upshop.com/, and watch customer testimonials at Upshop Total Store Operations Experience – YouTube
About Invafresh
With a combined 500+ years of Freshology experience, the heritage of Invafresh has enabled fresh food retailers to create extraordinary store operations performance and differentiated customer experiences. As the leader of Freshology, Invafresh is deployed in over 350 grocery retailers spanning a global reach of 35 countries with $100’s of millions of Fresh revenue being transacted daily, to provide AI-enhanced demand forecasting, merchandising, replenishment, sustainability and compliance, and waste prevention solutions.
About Level Equity
Level Equity is a private investment firm focused on providing capital to rapidly growing software and technology-driven businesses. Level provides long term capital across all transaction types in support of continued growth. The firm has raised $3.0 billion in committed capital, has backed over 100 companies since inception, and has offices in New York, NY and Greenwich, CT. For more information about Level Equity, visit www.levelequity.com.