Bill Gates-Backed Food Waste Prevention Startup Apeel Raises $250M From Oprah, Katy Perry, Singapore Government

Food waste prevention startup Apeel Sciences has raised $250 million in its latest round of funding, it announced Tuesday.

What Happened

Media mogul Oprah Winfrey, singer Katy Perry, and Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC Pvt. Ltd. participated in the funding, Apeel said.

The startup makes edible coatings for avocados and citrus fruits that increase their shelf lives, and help prevent post-harvest food waste.

"This new capital puts Apeel in a position to build resiliency in our food supply system and create a global coalition of producers and suppliers to bring longer-lasting produce to food retailers and foodservice," Apeel said in a statement.

The Goleta, California-based startup was founded in 2012 with a $100,000 grant from Microsoft Corporation MSFT co-founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates' non-profit organization, as reported by the Washington Post back in 2018.

The Rockefeller Foundation, Andreesen Horowitz, and DBL Partners have also funded the startup over the years, according to the Post.

Why It Matters

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has further brought food waste issues to light, as supply chains across the globe were disrupted.

"What 2020 has underscored is the need for our food system to work smarter rather than harder to alleviate a system under strain," Apeel noted.