Shelf Engine Raises $41 Million For Grocery Supply Chain Automation

The grocery industry wastes 43 billion pounds of food every year. But with statistical data and machine learning, Shelf Engine hopes to change that, according to a Thursday (March 18) press release.

The company announced in the release that it has raised $41 million in a Series B funding round to expand its grocery supply chain automation technology and bring it to more stores around the U.S.

The round was led by General Catalyst and included existing investors GGV Capital, Foundation Capital, Soma Capital, Firebolt Ventures, 1984 Ventures, Correlation Ventures, Founders’ Co-op and Initialized Capital. The firm has raised $58 million to date, the release stated.

“This latest round will enable us to further meet the demand from our customers to launch into thousands of new stores in the next 18 months,” said Shelf Engine Co-Founder and CEO Stefan Kalb in the release.

Shelf Engine is currently live in over 2,000 grocery stores across the country, according to the release. Its technology analyzes sales data and previous orders, incorporating fluctuations, like holidays and weather, to automate accurate orders for grocers, which helps reduce waste and increase sales, “and that goes straight to the grocer’s bottom line,” Kalb noted.

While grocery stores have seen their profits shoot up amid the pandemic, increased demand has exasperated store and supply chain inefficiencies. According to the release, grocers throw away one-third of their fresh products, bringing down the store’s profitability and driving up the consumer’s costs.

With Shelf Engine’s technology, grocers decrease their food waste up to 32 percent, increase their average profit margin by over 50 percent and reduce out of stock occurrences by 90 percent, according to the press release.

“Grocery retailers today need to innovate quickly or they’ll put their companies at risk,” Kalb said in the release.

While consumers flocked to grocery stores when the pandemic closed down restaurants across the country, grocers will have to work hard to maintain those consumers, John Ross, president and CEO of the Independent Grocers Alliance (IGA), told PYMNTS this month.

“As grocers, we now have to make sure that we earn that continued loyalty,” Ross said. “We can’t just merchandise the same way we did before and expect them to continue to do it once all the restaurants are back.”