Forager™, a company focused on making locally sourced food widely available to all, announced that it has secured a new round of funding from Coastal Enterprises, Inc. (CEI) in Maine.

"Our goal is to grow good jobs, environmentally-sustainable enterprises, and shared prosperity in Maine and across the country," said Gray Harris, Senior Program Director, Natural Resource Sectors, CEI. "We are thrilled to invest in Forager whose mission and focus on accelerating our local food system aligns so well with our goals."

Recently recognized by Fast Company magazine for its innovative leadership in affecting social good, Forager is fueled by the passion of its CEO and founder, David D. Stone, a serial technology entrepreneur who wants to give back to the world by accelerating the sharing of local foods. Though the $14 billion local food market is burgeoning, the cost and complexity of the local food sourcing process are barriers to even faster growth. Forager's new online and mobile procurement-to-payment platform radically simplifies the sourcing process, saving time and significant costs, and enabling grocers, food co-ops, farmers and producers to offer more local products to consumers.

"Since our launch in March, we are already witnessing considerable success with our customers across the state of Maine, and with CEI's support, we will continue to remove the friction from local food sourcing," said Mr. Stone. "We know that local food can make a fundamental difference to the health of our environment and our well-being, and we want to fan the flames of a local food revolution."

Forager launched its platform after completing a successful regional pilot involving 100 farmers and 10 grocers, food co-ops and wholesalers from Maine. The company is rolling it out throughout New England and New York State, and additional grocers and farmers are now participating.

For more information, please visit goforager.com.

About Forager™ (Forager1, LLC)

The mission of Forager is to accelerate the growth of the local food economy and make locally sourced food more widely available to all. The company's online and mobile platform digitizes and streamlines the procurement-to-payment process, saving time and costs for grocers, co-ops, farmers, producers, and other buyers and sellers of local food. For more information about Forager, please see goforager.com.