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Pepper's $30 Million Series B Milestone: Empowering the Future of Food Distribution

At Pepper, we’ve always been tracking toward one goal—to reimagine the way technology serves the independent food distribution industry. Today, there are more than 25,000 independent distributors that serve as the backbone of the food industry. Yet they have been largely overlooked and underserved by existing tech solutions. In an era of increasing consolidation and competition from large corporate distributors, we believe it’s critical to preserve the diversity of the industry. That’s why, since our inception, we’ve been obsessed with building software to both elevate and future proof the role of independent food distributors.

Today, we’re announcing a major step forward with the closing of our $30 million Series B funding round led by ICONIQ Growth. ICONIQ Growth is the perfect partner for us as they have an incredible track record of backing and scaling large vertical software businesses like Procore and ServiceTitan. New to our investment partnerships is Harmony Partners, who will bring experience and additional connections within the food industry. We’re also proud to have our existing investors including Index Ventures, Greylock, and Imaginary reaffirm their support of our mission by participating in the round. Since raising our Series A, we’ve been able to double our customer base, launch 100+ innovative product features, grow our number of distributors 5x, and increase our revenue 20x.

To Our Partners – We Couldn’t Have Done it Without You 

We extend our deepest gratitude to our current clients, whose trust and partnership have been instrumental in reaching this milestone. Customer feedback and support have shaped Pepper into what it is today—a platform tailored for the unique challenges and opportunities in food distribution. Over 200 independent food distributors trust Pepper for order management, analytics, customer support, payment tooling and more. As we embark on this next phase of growth, we are excited to welcome new distributor partners to join this amazing community.

What’s Next for Pepper?

With this funding, we’ll be doubling down on product development in several key areas, including: 

●  Generative AI Applications: From crafting tailored order guides for prospects to converting voicemails into draft orders, our AI-driven solutions are set to transform suggestive selling and operational efficiencies.

●  DSR CRM & Co-pilot: We're enhancing our CRM capabilities to include account-level alerts, streamlined prospect identification and setup, along with conversational business intelligence that recommends new products dynamically.

  • Expansion of Pepper’s Product Library - Pepper introduced the world to the Smart Attribute Library & Taxonomy (SALT), a ground-breaking endeavor that leverages innovative product information management tools and AI to curate the largest, most dynamic product content library for Foodservice 

Ads & Insights: Expect advanced features like sponsored search keywords, targeted advertising campaigns, and smarter campaign creators to boost marketing efficacy and sample fulfillment.

●  Core eCommerce UX Enhancements: We will continue to enrich user experiences with detailed product displays, expanded analytics, and enhanced offline capabilities.

 And as always, we are committed to building a product that puts the needs of independent distributors first. Unlike others in the market, we guarantee our customers complete ownership and control over their data. We also offer best-in-class integrations with over 40 ERPs and payment processors, and our leading mobile experience is loved by the operator community. 

A New Era of Growth

Our long-term goals remain steadfast: to continue developing innovative technologies and services that support the independent food distributor. We aim to create a more robust, vibrant, and sustainable food system that not only meets today's demands but also anticipates tomorrow's challenges.

We are proud of all we’ve accomplished since the launch of Pepper and even more excited for what’s to come. And we’re just getting started.

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Blog posts

Pepper's $30 Million Series B Milestone: Empowering the Future of Food Distribution

May 13, 2024, Written by

Today, we’re announcing a major step forward with the closing of our $30 million Series B funding round led by ICONIQ Growth. ICONIQ Growth is the perfect partner for us as they have an incredible track record of backing and scaling large vertical software businesses like Procore and ServiceTitan. New to our investment partnerships is Harmony Partners, who will bring experience and additional connections within the food industry. We’re also proud to have our existing investors including Index Ventures, Greylock, and Imaginary reaffirm their support of our mission by participating in the round. Since raising our Series A, we’ve been able to double our customer base, launch 100+ innovative product features, grow our number of distributors 5x, and increase our revenue 20x.

To Our Partners – We Couldn’t Have Done it Without You 

We extend our deepest gratitude to our current clients, whose trust and partnership have been instrumental in reaching this milestone. Customer feedback and support have shaped Pepper into what it is today—a platform tailored for the unique challenges and opportunities in food distribution. Over 200 independent food distributors trust Pepper for order management, analytics, customer support, payment tooling and more. As we embark on this next phase of growth, we are excited to welcome new distributor partners to join this amazing community.

What’s Next for Pepper?

With this funding, we’ll be doubling down on product development in several key areas, including: 

●  Generative AI Applications: From crafting tailored order guides for prospects to converting voicemails into draft orders, our AI-driven solutions are set to transform suggestive selling and operational efficiencies.

●  DSR CRM & Co-pilot: We're enhancing our CRM capabilities to include account-level alerts, streamlined prospect identification and setup, along with conversational business intelligence that recommends new products dynamically.

  • Expansion of Pepper’s Product Library - Pepper introduced the world to the Smart Attribute Library & Taxonomy (SALT), a ground-breaking endeavor that leverages innovative product information management tools and AI to curate the largest, most dynamic product content library for Foodservice 

Ads & Insights: Expect advanced features like sponsored search keywords, targeted advertising campaigns, and smarter campaign creators to boost marketing efficacy and sample fulfillment.

●  Core eCommerce UX Enhancements: We will continue to enrich user experiences with detailed product displays, expanded analytics, and enhanced offline capabilities.

 And as always, we are committed to building a product that puts the needs of independent distributors first. Unlike others in the market, we guarantee our customers complete ownership and control over their data. We also offer best-in-class integrations with over 40 ERPs and payment processors, and our leading mobile experience is loved by the operator community. 

A New Era of Growth

Our long-term goals remain steadfast: to continue developing innovative technologies and services that support the independent food distributor. We aim to create a more robust, vibrant, and sustainable food system that not only meets today's demands but also anticipates tomorrow's challenges.

We are proud of all we’ve accomplished since the launch of Pepper and even more excited for what’s to come. And we’re just getting started.

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