GrubMarket, a food logistics startup based in San Francisco, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $50 million in a Series G fundraising round, valuing the company at over $3.5 billion.
TakeAway Points:
- GrubMarket, a food logistics startup based in San Francisco, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $50 million in a Series G fundraising round, valuing the company at over $3.5 billion.
- With more than 12,000 workers, GrubMarket has grown to become the largest private food tech firm in the United States by sales since its establishment in 2014.
- Tesla had obtained the first of several approvals needed for the electric vehicle manufacturer to eventually introduce a promised robotaxi service in California.
$3.5 billion in new funding
The new round includes Liberty Street Funds, 3Spoke Capital, ROC Venture Group, Portfolia, Pegasus Tech Ventures, Joseph Stone Capital, and other unnamed investors.
“GrubMarket has experienced an incredible acceleration in growth over the last 12 months – our revenues surpassed $2 billion in 2024, and we became the largest private food technology company in the United States, while continuing to maintain a strong and healthy financial bottom line,” founder & CEO Mike Xu said in a statement announcing the funding.
The company, founded in 2014, currently does business with more than 70 countries, serving businesses and consumers in all 50 states plus Canada, and has over 12,000 employees.
Despite a tough macroeconomic environment fueled by uncertainty surrounding tariffs, much of the company’s growth has come through acquisitions. Companies that GrubMarket acquires use its software suite, which includes sales and online ordering features, inventory management, lot traceability, and automated routing and logistics.
The company says the funding will be used to double down on artificial intelligence.
“As our business model is highly sustainable, this funding round was not a necessity, but rather an opportunity to align our valuation with the scale and strength of our business growth, our AI tech innovations, and the significant value we create for the industry,” Xu said.
The company’s Farm-GPT, an analytics tool powered by generative AI that uses real-time and historical pricing data from USDA and proprietary sources, helps farmers and growers maximize profits and optimize crop selection. It also has a broader GrubAssist suite of AI-powered virtual assistants delivering real-time business insights and analysis.
GrubMarket has been named to CNBC’s annual Disruptor 50 list the past two consecutive years, ranked No. 23 in 2024 and No. 41 in 2023.
Tesla gets first permits to run robotaxis in California
Tesla on Tuesday received the first in a series of approvals from California required for the electric car maker to eventually launch a promised robotaxi service in the state, according to a state regulator.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) said it approved Tesla’s application for a transportation charter-party carrier permit (TCP), a license typically associated with chauffeur-operated services, allowing the company to own and control a fleet of vehicles and transport employees on pre-arranged trips.
The permit is a prerequisite for applying to operate an autonomous ride-hailing service in California, but a CPUC spokesperson said the current permit “does not authorize them to provide rides” in autonomous vehicles, and does not allow Tesla to operate a ride-hailing service to the public.
With sales growth slowing, Tesla CEO Elon Musk pivoted his focus last year to rolling out robotaxis and has promised driverless ride-hailing services to the public in California and Texas this year. In October, Tesla revealed the Cybercab, a robotaxi concept that had no steering wheel or control pedals.
Tesla had applied for the TCP permit in November 2024, the regulator said in an email, adding that the company had not applied for the other permits yet.
The company would also need permits from the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and CPUC in order to operate a fully autonomous robotaxi service that charges customers.
Tesla currently only has a DMV permit to test autonomous vehicles with a safety driver.
A DMV spokesperson said on Tuesday that Tesla has not applied for any additional permits from the agency, which would be required to move forward with a CPUC application for driverless taxis.
