GrubMarket Acquires Fresh Software Solutions
Food technology company GrubMarket has completed the acquisition of Naperville, Ill.-based Fresh Software Solutions (FSS), an enterprise software provider that specializes in building solutions for fresh produce distributors, wholesalers, repackers and foodservice suppliers across North America.
Founded nearly 15 years ago, FSS is still run by its original owner Steve Reilly, a 20-year veteran of the food supply chain software industry. The company's core product is Thyme Software, a fully-integrated cloud-based ERP system that enables owners and managers to handle all key business functions in one place. Thyme Software also supports comprehensive warehouse management, e-commerce capabilities for 24/7 online ordering via its WEB Order Entry solution, and electronic document imaging and management solutions.
[Read more: "GrubMarket Acquires Specialty Produce Company"]
FSS's software offerings will become an addition to GrubMarket's e-commerce and software product family, which already includes the proprietary WholesaleWare software suite, the company's software-as-a-service platform that provides food industry wholesalers and distributors with financial management, sales and online ordering features; inventory management; lot traceability; grower accounting; automated routing and logistics; and Orders IO, GrubMarket's custom branded mobile e-commerce solution.
"For us, the decision to join GrubMarket came down to what was best for our customers and our employees, and how we could positively impact the future of the food supply chain industry. We were approached by many potential acquirers and investors, but we felt that GrubMarket's unique combination of fast growth, strong vision, dedicated team, and unmatched technology expertise presented the most promising and meaningful opportunity for our next evolution," said Steve Reilly, owner of FSS, which will continue to be managed by its leadership team.
According to Mike Xu, CEO of a San Francisco-based GrubMarket: "FSS has an unparalleled reputation in the fresh produce industry's software development community. They've been in business for nearly two decades, have achieved double-digit year-over-year revenue growth, and are a profitable business with high customer satisfaction and impeccable reviews. Several FSS customers were thrilled to share that they saw double-digit gross profit dollar and margin increases since implementing Thyme Software. Furthermore, FSS is complementary with WholesaleWare, so we're excited to bring Steve's industry know-how to GrubMarket, and we warmly welcome him to the team that is building best-in-class e-commerce and software experiences for all our customers. This acquisition is another big step that drives forward our mission to digitize the food supply chain."
GrubMarket also recently acquired both New York-based Frantoni Corp. and Kansas-based Granite State Software, enterprise software providers that specialize in building advanced food supply chain software solutions, with a focus on the Eastern and Midwest regions of the U.S.
Currently, GrubMarket operates in all 50 U.S. states, Canada's Ontario and British Columbia, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, India, Mexico, South Africa and Spain.
In September, GrubMarket raised $120 million in equity at a valuation greater than $2 billion from new backers including General Mills Inc.’s venture arm. Squarepoint Capital, Portfolia, and Grosvenor Food & AgTech are among the new investors. Existing investors, including Tiger Global, Liberty Street Funds, Walleye Capital, Celtic House Asia Partners and Apeira Capital, also participated. The company will use the proceeds to continue acquiring traditional, offline wholesalers and distributors.
