Relocalize, the developer of the autonomous micro-factory for the food & beverage industry, announced that it has raised $2.5 million in the initial closing of a $3.5 million seed round led by i4 Capital and Waterpoint Lane.
The proceeds from the round will be used to prepare Relocalize's autonomous production platform for scaling.
In March 2023, Southeastern Grocers announced a partnership with Relocalize to pilot an autonomous micro-factory, known as RELO, at their Jacksonville distribution center. Positioned at retailer distribution and fulfillment centers, RELOs produce CPG products on-demand for 100–200 retail stores. Each RELO performs all the functions of a traditional factory but at approximately 1/20th the scale, aiming to eliminate 100% of transportation-related CO2 emissions and waste.
The pilot RELO is producing a hyperlocal, certified plastic-negative packaged ice, on-demand for local supermarkets in Florida. Building on this, Relocalize plans to install multiple new systems to further impact climate change mitigation.
Relocalize
"This is a big step towards a truck-free future for our food system," Relocalize Co-founder and CEO D. Wayne McIntyre. "It reflects both the urgent need to decarbonize food production and the high market demand for sustainable and affordable products.”
“We believe that Relocalize’s micro-manufacturing technology will help reinvent the way consumers access quality food and beverage products," Tim Tokarsky, Founder & Managing Partner of i4 Capital, said. "The world's first hyper-local micro-factory for packaged ice is just the beginning; numerous applications will leverage their disruptive manufacturing platform, directly cutting GHG emissions."
Relocalize
