# Matt Schwartz

> Matt Schwartz is the CEO and co-founder of Afresh, a San Francisco-based AI company building the operating system for fresh food in grocery retail. A Stanford MBA alumnus with a lifelong obsession with food systems, he co-founded Afresh in 2017 after discovering that billion-dollar grocery chains were still managing produce orders with paper and pen. Under his leadership, Afresh has raised $181.8M in total funding, deployed across 12,500+ departments in 40 states, and prevented more than 200 million pounds of food waste - serving major chains including Albertsons, Meijer, and Wakefern.

- **Role:** CEO & Co-Founder at Afresh
- **Organizations:** Afresh, Statfoods, Simple Mills, The Production Board
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** MBA, Stanford University Graduate School of Business
- **Known for:** Raised $181.8M in total venture funding across multiple rounds including a $115M Series B, Prevented over 200 million pounds of food waste through Afresh's AI platform, Saved 4.06 billion gallons of water through reduced overproduction

## Career timeline

- **pre-2015** — Worked at Simple Mills (natural baking/food company) in operations
- **pre-2015** — Formulated better-for-you food products; consulted with food biotechnology companies
- **2015** — Enrolled at Stanford GSB; interned at The Production Board (Dave Friedberg's foodtech firm)
- **2015-2017** — Founded Statfoods, a protein snack brand, while completing MBA at Stanford
- **2015-2017** — Interviewed nearly 100 food supply chain professionals as research for what became Afresh
- **2017** — Co-founded Afresh with Nathan Fenner and Volodymyr (Volo) Kuleshov; graduated Stanford GSB
- **2022** — Raised $115M Series B led by Spark Capital; multiplied live store count 7x; Albertsons partnership announced
- **2022** — Afresh technology reached nearly 10% of all U.S. supermarkets
- **2026** — Raised $34M co-led by Just Climate and High Sage Ventures; 12,500+ departments in 40 states; 70% YoY revenue growth

## Achievements

- Raised $181.8M in total venture funding across multiple rounds including a $115M Series B
- Prevented over 200 million pounds of food waste through Afresh's AI platform
- Saved 4.06 billion gallons of water through reduced overproduction
- Reduced 110 million kg of CO2 emissions
- Deployed Afresh in 12,500+ departments across 40 U.S. states
- Secured partnerships with Albertsons (3rd largest U.S. retailer), Meijer, Wakefern, CUB, WinCo Foods, Save Mart, and Bashas
- Achieved 70% year-over-year revenue growth at Afresh (as of 2026)
- Delivered 25%+ shrink reduction, 3% sales lift, and 7% inventory turnover improvement for grocery customers

## Latest updates

- **2026-04** — Afresh raised $34M co-led by Just Climate and High Sage Ventures, with the platform now operating in 12,500+ departments in 40 states and achieving 70% YoY revenue growth.
- **2026-04** — Afresh expanding beyond fresh food into full-store ordering, production planning, and supply chain coordination.
- **2022-08** — Afresh closed $115M Series B led by Spark Capital; Albertsons announced as major customer for rollout to 2,300+ stores.

## Links

- Website: https://afresh.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-schwartz-0b76a326
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/matt__schwartz

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/matt-schwartz
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-16