Imperfect, San Francisco, opened a new distribution center in Baltimore, Md., helping the provider of imperfect fruits and vegetables become a national e-commerce player with the scale to impact food recovery coast-to-coast. This expansion coincides with new investment from Thirty Five Ventures.

"We're incredibly honored to welcome one of the most prominent figures in sports and entrepreneurship as we begin our nationwide expansion," says Ben Simon, co-founder and CEO. "With this new support, we will continue to reduce food waste nationwide while giving more people access to affordable, fresh, high-quality fruits and vegetables."

As part of Imperfect's commitment to people and local economies, the company's expansion is expected to create up to hundreds of new full-time jobs. Imperfect is also seeking to expand to Washington D.C., proper in early 2019, followed by all major metropolitan areas on the East Coast by the end of 2020. Outside of market expansion, Imperfect is looking to grow its product portfolio with other grocery items headed for the waste system, including short-coded items, products made with imperfect produce (such as baked goods, pickles, jams and fruit leather) and products with packaging and labeling errors.