Celebs Join Shelf Engine’s Fight to Combat Food Waste in Retail

The additional funding from the celebrity advocates will help Shelf Engine expand at full scale with current customers and accelerate further investment in research and development of its AI systems and automation capabilities.

“We are facing a global environmental crisis, and how we respond will have enormous ramifications on the generations that follow ours,” said Stefan Kalb, co-founder and CEO of Seattle-based Shelf Engine. “Having such influential voices as Ellen, Portia, Shaun and Shawn educating consumers and retailers on the dire consequences if we don’t act now is invaluable as we work to reduce food waste across the globe.”

Over the past year, Shelf Engine has achieved more than 540% revenue growth while scaling up its staff from 23 employees to 200-plus. The company plans to more than double its headcount in the next 12 months.

To accommodate its rapid growth, Shelf Engine recently hired Kane McCord as president and chief revenue officer. McCord brings to his new role nearly two decades of executive leadership, previously having been COO at Denver-based cash-back rewards and payments app company Ibotta.

Shelf Engine’s latest high-profile funding follows the $41 million it raised in a Series B funding round in March.

Shelf Engine forecasts and orders highly perishable foods for grocers at scale. Using AI, the company’s platform predicts consumer demand and automates ordering for every SKU, every day, in every store. Shelf Engine simplifies grocery operations by automating the purchase orders sent to suppliers and distributors, paying them directly for the products they deliver, and only charging retailers for what they sell.