The Farmstead

Grocery Delivery Startup Tests A.I. to Outsmart Food Waste (and Amazon) | Eater SF

"I see Farmstead as a Bay Area grocery-delivery startup that uses AI to predict consumer habits and automatically places orders from producers like Cowgirl Creamery and Acme Bread, stocks small local micro-hubs, and dispatches couriers on optimized routes. They promise delivery in under 60 minutes for $5 or less, with prices that match local supermarkets and no minimum order. Launched this fall, the company has completed over 40,000 deliveries and recently raised $2 million from Resolute Ventures and Social Capital, bringing its seed total to $4.8 million. CEO Pradeep Elankumaran—who started the company after repeatedly having to run out for milk—frames Farmstead as a more efficient alternative to traditional supermarkets, and the company reports wasting under 10% of its perishable food so far by avoiding the overordering that he says causes substantial industry waste." - Caleb Pershan