In a funding environment where deals go down over a matter of days (if not hours) with seemingly little to no due diligence yet with record breaking amounts of capital being put to work, it often feels like the “old way” of founders truly getting to know investors, and entering a partnership with a clear perspective of what the potential 10+ years will look like, is gone. For this reason, I couldn’t be more excited to share Upfront’s latest investment, Martie, and why the days of relationship building are truly not gone.

The Power of Time

Before I tell you what Martie does and why we’re excited -- let me first tell you about the journey Upfront went on with Founder/CEO and serial entrepreneur Louise Fritjofsson. Our firm has been fortunate to know Louise for years through her other startups, so in 2020 when Louise was working on a new venture leveraging influencers to launch a series of food brands, it was logical for the two of us to meet. In my experience as CMO at REVOLVE, I helped create the model around influencer driven consumer marketing, so our first meeting was simply to see if there were insights I could share.

As Louise and I spoke over the summer of 2020 (via Zoom, of course), I was incredibly intrigued by what she was building but even more impressed by her general strengths as a founder. I think we both enjoyed the process of digging into her model, brainstorming avenues for influencer-led growth, and learning how each other worked. It was the basis for a solid relationship that simply doesn’t feel as possible in today’s funding environment.

As a firm we all felt that while the idea may not have been right for us as an investment, Louise was an incredible founder, just the type of person we would want to back. In fact, I think my exact feedback was “I would love to keep in close touch and track what you are building, as it would be great to work together at some point in the future.” Yes, this is probably a classic VC ‘no’ but Martie is proof that we really mean it!

And nearly a year later in 2021, when Louise shared her idea for Martie, I thought it was absolutely brilliant and that the business had huge potential. And it also reinforced to me that Louise was a different type of founder, as she gave birth to her 2nd child throughout the process and was still as dedicated to her family and newborn as she was to getting Martie off the ground. It was a no-brainer funding decision; yes, a competitive process (like most deals in this market) but one that allowed us to move quickly since we already had conviction about the founder. It’s been almost eight years since we first met Louise as a firm - and we’re so thrilled to have found a mutual fit; to support her, co-founder Kari Morris, and the entire Martie team; and to get to this special launch day.

The Problem Martie Is Solving .... Starting Today!

You may never have realized it as a consumer, but surplus inventory of packaged foods is a widespread problem. Every day, huge amounts of perfectly good products can’t be used due to manufacturer overstocking, packaging changes, seasonal products that have yet to sell through, or items that are too close to their expiration date.

And even though these products are healthy for consumers to eat, manufacturers usually dump these items in the landfill because sending them to liquidators for pennies on the dollar, or struggling through the layers of complexity to donate them (yes, it’s actually hard to donate food), is just not worth the effort.

Why is this a big problem? Because according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, more than one-third of the food produced annually, i.e., around 1.6 billion tons, is either wasted or lost. Food waste in landfills accounted for 4.4 gigatons (Gt) of carbon dioxide emissions per year, which accounted for more than 8% of the global anthropogenic GHG emissions. So - a pretty big problem!

That’s where Martie comes in. Martie is creating an online solution to both modernize surplus and reduce food waste with over 400+ items from great brands across 10 proven shelf stable categories - and they’re 40-70% off.

We’re talking established brands you may have grown up on like Heinz, Quaker, Skippy or Tapatio or new folks like Oatly, Annie's, Popchips and more. In addition to their mission of ending food waste and its carbon impact, the company is truly creating an excellent experience for customers all across the United States, down to offering a full experience for Spanish-speaking customers.

With such a large market and compelling product, and with such a passionate, capable and mission-driven team, it’s so exciting to be part of this journey. It’s even more exciting to do this with a team that we already consider true partners and friends as we look to scale a business in the uncertain world of startups.

If you live in California, join me in shopping on Martie where you can strike a deal on some great products you know (or maybe discover) while doing good for the planet. For those living outside of California, we will be nationwide in Q1 (so stay tuned)!