Apeel Sciences: Using Nature’s Technology for Long-Lasting Produce

Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Apeel Sciences.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are vital to a healthy, well-balanced diet. The global market size of fresh produce was valued at $144,004.80 million in 2022 and is projected to grow to $210,903.81 million by 2028, with a CAGR of 51.4%.

Despite such a huge figure, the world is experiencing global hunger because of the perishable nature of fruits and vegetables. Apeel Sciences has come across as a major breakthrough in preserving the quality of fresh produce for a long time.

This article talks about Apeel Sciences, how it was founded, its founder, business and revenue model, funding, partners, and more.

Apeel Sciences – Company Highlights

Apeel Sciences – About
Apeel Sciences – Founders and Team
Apeel Sciences – Startup Story
Apeel Sciences – Mission and Vision
Apeel Sciences – Business Model
Apeel Sciences – Revenue Model
Apeel Sciences – Products and Services
Apeel Sciences – Challenges Faced
Apeel Sciences – Funding and Investors
Apeel Sciences – Mergers and Acquisitions
Apeel Sciences – Patents and Trademarks
Apeel Sciences – Growth
Apeel Sciences – Social Media Presence
Apeel Sciences – Partners
Apeel Sciences – Awards and Achievements
Apeel Sciences – Competitors
Apeel Sciences – Future Plan

Apeel Sciences – About

Apeel Sciences, popularly known as Apeel, is inspired by nature’s own technology. Every plant on Earth, from oranges to raspberries, has its own peel or skin that protects them. The company uses the edible materials found in the skin, seeds, pulp, and peels of every fruit and vegetable to keep the produce fresh for longer.

Apeel Sciences serves small growers to the world’s top retailers with delicious, nutritious, and longer-lasting produce in the U.S., Chile, Canada, Japan, China, South Africa, Mexico, the U.K., Switzerland, Kenya, and many other countries.

Apeel Sciences – Founders and Team

James Roger is the founder and CEO of Apeel Sciences. He completed B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, an M.A. in Economics, and a Ph.D. in Materials from U.C. Santa Barbara.

In addition to founding Apeel Sciences, he is a Board of Directors member at the UCSB Alumni Association, a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum, and a Board of Trustees member at the Santa Barbara Foundation.

Appel Sciences is a team of around 340 employees.

Apeel Sciences – Startup Story

While driving home, James Roger was listening to a podcast on global hunger and thought of having magical seeds that could absorb water and sunlight, produce food, and self-propagate. The thought stuck with him, and he decided to understand the reason for global hunger despite the abundance of food worldwide. Eventually, he came across a paper that stated all produce was seasonal and perishable. It’s when he realized that the perishability of production is the issue.

He identified some critical missing links to the food supply and demand problem, and his background in metallurgy became a critical link to his billion-dollar startup idea. Like a barrier around stainless steel, he thought of inventing an edible barrier around the food that could help food last longer.

He sharpened his idea and founded Apeel Sciences in 2012 after receiving a grant worth $100,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The primary purpose behind this grant was to reduce post-harvest food waste in developing countries lacking refrigeration infrastructure.

Since its inception, the company is developing products for two categories- USDA Organic Certified and conventional produce.

Apeel Sciences – Mission and Vision

Apeel Sciences’ mission is to make exceptional quality, longer-lasting produce that helps prevent food waste- creating value throughout the supply chain and a more abundant future for human beings.

Apeel Sciences – Business Model

Apeel Sciences dramatically slows spoils' production rate by maintaining moisture and reducing oxidation. The company supports the natural abilities of the plants to protect against environmental stress. The top layer of the plant’s peel, the cuticle layer, keeps moisture in while allowing the plant to breathe without letting it dry. Apeel Sciences forms a thin edible ‘peel’ on the fruit’s surface, similar to the plant’s cuticle layer, to protect fresh produce.

Apeel is composed of purified monoglycerides and diglycerides, edible compounds verified by regulatory authorities worldwide, including Health Canada, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Apeel Sciences – Revenue Model

Apeel Science generates revenue by selling its edible coating powder, application equipment, and onsite service team to small, mid, and large-sized growers and farmers.

Apeel Sciences – Products and Services

The company offers Edipeel, a thin, edible post-harvest coating made from plant-derived materials. Moreover, Edipeel is allowed to use on fruits and vegetables, including Avacados, English Cucumbers, Limes, Mandarins, Oranges, Organic Apples, Lemons, Grapefruit, Mangoes, Papayas, Pineapples, Pomegranates, Bananas, and more.

Apeel Sciences – Challenges Faced

Recently, posts on Facebook and Twitter confuse two different products Apeel – a hard surface cleaner produced by a U.K. company, and Apeel Sciences. These social media posts claimed that Edipeel is harmful to human health.

Future of Plant-based Nutrition in India

Health & wellness have come sharply into focus in recent years. Here is a perception and a look at the Future of Plant-Based Nutrition in India.

StartupTalkyPreeti Karna

Apeel Sciences – Funding and Investors

Apeel Sciences raised a total amount of $719.1 million over 10 funding rounds. Its latest funding round - Debt Financing, was held on June 29, 2022, and raised $4 million. 33 investors fund the company, including Andreessen Horowitz, Upfront Ventures, DBL Partners, Powerplant Ventures, S2G Ventures, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and others.

Apeel Sciences – Mergers and Acquisitions

Apeel Sciences acquired ImpactVision on May 11, 2021, to use its imaging and machine learning technologies to allow food suppliers to collect quantifiable data about products, like freshness, ripeness, and nutritional density.

Apeel Sciences – Patents and Trademarks

Apeel Sciences has 64 registered patents, with ‘Food or Foodstuffs; Their Treatment, Not Covered by Other Classes’ primary category. Additionally, it has 24 registered trademarks, with ‘Agricultural Products; Live Animals’ as the most popular class.

Apeel Sciences – Growth

Apeel Sciences have prevented 44 million fruits from being wasted, avoided 7,000 metric tons of CO2-eq of greenhouse gas emissions, and conserved 1.7 billion of water. The estimated annual revenue of the company in 2022 is $88.1 million ($264,571 revenue per employee).

Furthermore, in 2022 Apple Sciences’ valuation was $2 billion. The employee count increased by -35%, and the web visits growth rate is 154.84%.

Apeel Sciences - Social Media Presence

Apeel Sciences has a fair share of presence on multiple social media platforms:

Apeel Sciences – Partners

Apeel Sciences has partnered with the following:

• EDEKA
• Asda
• Nature’s Pride
• Kroger
• Houweling Group
• Topline Farms

Apeel Sciences – Awards and Achievements

Some main achievements of Apeel Sciences are as follows:

• ‘Technology of the Year Award in 2019 by the University of California (U.C.) Santa Barbara
• Selected for Rabobank Food & Agribusiness Industry Leadership Awards in 2018

Apeel Sciences – Competitors

Apeel Sciences ranks 2nd among its 17 active competitors. Here are some of its main competitors:

• Karma
• Ryp Labs
• Full Harvest
• PureSpace
• Eden Agritech
• More
• Neolithics
• AgroSustain

Apeel Sciences - Future Plan

Apeel Sciences plan to build a smarter supply chain by leveraging advanced technology to maximize the lifespan, quality, and sustainability of fresh fruits and vegetables.

FAQs

What does Apeel Sciences do?

Apeel Sciences, popularly known as Apeel, is inspired by nature’s own technology. Every plant on Earth, from oranges to raspberries, has its own peel or skin that protects them. The company uses the edible materials found in the skin, seeds, pulp, and peels of every fruit and vegetable to keep the produce fresh for longer.

Who founded Apeel Sciences?

James Roger founded Apeel Sciences in 2012.

Who are the main competitors of Apeel Sciences?

Here are some of its main competitors:

• Karma
• Ryp Labs
• Full Harvest
• PureSpace
• Eden Agritech
• More
• Neolithics
• AgroSustain