Secai Marche, a farm-to-table fulfillment platform serving farmers in Japan and Southeast Asia, today announced it has raised 210 million yen (approximately US$1.6 million) in Series A funding. Participating in the round were venture capital firms The Agribusiness Investment and Consultation Co., Spiral Ventures Asia Fund I and Beyond Next Ventures.
This brings the startup’s total funding to date to $4.5 million. The last time TechCrunch covered Sekai His Marche was in 2021 when it raised seed funding from Rakuten and Beyond Next.
Since raising seed funding, Sekai Marche has built a warehousing and fulfillment system for fresh produce and established a farm-to-end-user cold supply chain covering over 300 farmers. Founder Ami Sugiyama told TechCrunch that by optimizing her supply chain and minimizing delivery lead times, Secai Marche can keep her waste rate below 1%. .
Sugiyama said Southeast Asia’s food distribution industry is very large, but highly fragmented and inefficient. Use to help smooth out bumps along the F&B supply chain. The platform offers him over 4,000 items from farmers in Southeast Asia and Japan, including vegetables, fruits, eggs, and seafood. Selling to over 500 retailers and his HORECA (Hotels, Restaurants and Catering) customers.
Other farm-to-table startups in Southeast Asia that have raised funding in the past few years include Eden Farm, Kamereo and FreshKet.
Sekai Marche strives to differentiate itself from other agricultural wholesale platforms by providing an end-to-end fulfillment solution open to all farmers.
The funds raised will be used to develop Sekai Marche’s demand forecasting system and optimize truck routing as the service area expands.