Farmstead Launches First Free, 30-Minute Grocery Pickup Hub in San Francisco

Farmstead, an AI-powered digital micro-grocer that sources and delivers fresh food from farm-to-fridge in 60 minutes, announced the launch of its new 30-minute express pickup service at strategically placed micro-hubs in San Francisco and San Mateo. The new service puts Farmstead on par with incumbent players in the rapidly expanding online grocery delivery space, many of whom do not yet offer online order and pick-up services in San Francisco.

Offering express pickup service for the first time in San Francisco is the latest step toward Farmstead’s goal of fundamentally reinventing the $670B grocery sector. By using AI technology to optimize the sourcing and distribution of food from farms to customers,the company’s fulfillment model is specifically designed to reduce “rampant waste in the grocery industry, where more than 38 million tons of food waste are generated each year, while saving customers time and money.”

“At a time when the tech sector is trying to figure out what the future of grocery shopping will be, we are rolling out a new digital grocer that solves for convenience, food waste, and geographic density,” said Farmstead CEO and Cofounder Pradeep Elankumaran. “Our suburban customers requested a free rapid pickup option from their nearby Farmstead hub to help them replace time-consuming last-minute trips to the supermarket – we’re thrilled to bring them this carefully designed, compelling new experience.”

Founded just 12 months ago, Farmstead has completed over 17,000 deliveries to thousands of Bay Area customers, and has raised $2.8 million in seed funding from Resolute Ventures, Social Capital, Y Combinator, and Joe Montana’s Liquid 2 Ventures.