Hedge Fund Viking Invests in Battle to Keep Avocados Ripe Longer
- Halvorsen’s firm joins Bill Gates in backing Apeel Sciences
- Startup raised $70 million in recent round and added to board
Avocados sit on display for sale during the grand opening of a Whole Foods Market Inc. location.
Photographer: Dania Maxwell/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Viking Global Investors, one of the world’s biggest hedge funds, is joining the fight to keep avocados ripe longer.
Andreas Halvorsen’s $26 billion firm led a recent $70 million fundraising round for Apeel Sciences, a California startup that is backed by Bill Gates and Andreessen Horowitz. The company, which uses food waste and other plant material to delay the aging of fruit and vegetables, has now raised a total of $110 million as it pitches its product to grocers as a way to reduce food waste and boost margins.