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Radar · Food and Agriculture in Charleston

Best Food and Agriculture Companies in Charleston, United States

The 37 best Food and Agriculture companies in Charleston, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: The New Primal.

37companies tracked
$27.2Mdisclosed funding
0unicorns
5have raised
FLIAR INTELLIGENCE · FOOD AND AGRICULTURE × CHARLESTON

Our analysis of 175 Food and Agriculture companies

$22.9b in tracked funding; 93% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.

175companies analysed
93%cloud-native stacks
2025funding peak (by rounds)
7unicorns
2015median founding year

Ranked: Best Food and Agriculture companies in Charleston

#CompanyDisclosed fundingLast roundStageFounderFoundedTech stackRecent signals
1The New Primal
Natural meat snacks and condiments for health-conscious consumers
$21M61 mo agoSeries BJason Burke
Founder
2010——
2Red Clay Hot Sauce
Processor of sauces, honey, and spice & seasoning products
$5M47 mo agoSeedGeoff Rhyne
Owner
2014Cart FunctionalityShopifyShop Pay+28—
3The Alley
Restaurant serving burger & drinks
$751K178 mo agoSeed—2011PHPBootstrapApache HTTP Server+6—
4Home Team BBQ
Restaurant serving varieties of dishes & drinks
$330K116 mo agoSeed—2006WordPressMySQLPHP+22—
5Heron Farms
Provider of saltwater agriculture farming services
$250K43 mo agoSeedSam Norton
Founder
2020——
6Shine Water
Vitamin-enhanced water drinks with electrolytes and antioxidants for optimal hydration
$220K104 mo agoFunding RaisedAngel French
Co-Founder
2011ShopifyTailwind CSSVisa+231 expansion
7Ballast Hospitality
Ballast Hospitality is a family of restaurants focusing on Caribbean-inspired island fare + a lively bar…
———————
8Boxcar Betty's
Boxcar Betty's started with a picture of a fried chicken sandwich and developed into a desire to bring…
————2014——

Top 6 Food and Agriculture companies in Charleston

#1
Seed · Charleston, South Carolina · founded 2014 · 6 employees
$4.5Mraised
▾

Processor of sauces, honey, and spice & seasoning products

Funding rounds
  • Sep 2022Seed$3M
  • Jan 2021Seed$1.5M
  • Jun 2019Seed$40K
Founders & team
Geoff RhyneOwner
Investors
Curate Capital, One Degree Ventures, York IE
Tech stack
Amazon PayApple PayBackbone.JsCart FunctionalityCdnjsCloudflare
#2
Series B · Charleston, South Carolina · founded 2010 · 21 employees
$21.2Mraised
▾

Natural meat snacks and condiments for health-conscious consumers. They offer thoughtfully-sourced jerky, meat sticks, and cooking sauces. Catering to carnivores, omnivores, and herbivores, they provide portable protein options and healthy flavor profiles. Their products include zero sugar meat sticks and snack mates. They focus on providing convenient, nutritious, and delicious options for busy lifestyles. They aim to bring more hands in the kitchen and hearts around the table, promoting a return to shared meals. They offer free shipping on orders over a certain amount. They also have a store locator, press, FAQ, and about section. They also offer wholesale and affiliate programs. They also have a return and refund policy, privacy policy, terms of service, and accessibility statement. They also offer a subscription service. They also have a cart and login feature.

Funding rounds
  • Jul 2021Series B$15M
  • Oct 2019Series A$55K
  • May 2019Series A$701K
  • Apr 2018Series A$3M
Founders & team
Jason BurkeFounder
Investors
Manna Tree, Good Growth Capital, Third Prime, One Degree Ventures, Woodfields Capital
Tech stack
Cart FunctionalityShopifyBootstrapRechargeGempagesBold Bundles
#3
Seed · Charleston, South Carolina · founded 2020 · 14 employees
$250Kraised
▾

Provider of saltwater agriculture farming services

Founders & team
Sam NortonFounderSam NortonFounder
Investors
SC Launch
#4
Seed · Charleston, South Carolina · founded 2011 · 13 employees
$751Kraised
▾

Entertainment destination in downtown Charleston 150+ seat restaurant & 8 lanes of bowling. 3 separate bars with multiple flat screen TV's, mezzanine event space for 100ppl, outside seating, classic arcade games, skeeball, pinball, & a 85 space parking lot.

Funding rounds
  • Nov 2011Seed$751K
Tech stack
PhpBootstrapApache Http ServerJqueryFont AwesomeFacebook Pixel
#5
Seed · Charleston, South Carolina · founded 2006 · 93 employees
$330Kraised
▾

Operator of the restaurant chain intended to create a fusion of fundamentals and traditional processes with the slow-cooked meats and comfort food of the South. The company has dining, home delivery, bar, and catering services offering salads, tacos, and sandwiches made up of rubbed ribs, chicken, pork, and desserts, enabling customers with delicious food.

Funding rounds
  • Jan 2017Seed$330K
Tech stack
Adobe Audience ManagerApache Http ServerContact Form 7Cookie NoticeFancyboxGodaddy
#6
Funding Raised · Charleston, South Carolina · founded 2011 · 34 employees
$220Kraised
▾

Vitamin-enhanced water drinks with electrolytes and antioxidants for optimal hydration. They create superior beverages promoting optimum health using natural ingredients. The company provides vitamins, electrolytes, and minerals without sugar or artificial ingredients. Each nutrient is carefully chosen based on nutritional science and delivered in amounts that matter with naturally delicious flavor. They offer a range of flavored water drinks and kids' drink boxes. The website features a shop with a cart, login, and account creation options. They also provide recipes and information on ingredients, bulk & wholesale inquiries, and a store finder. The company is mission-driven, impacting people beyond its distribution footprint by donating a portion of sales to treat micronutrient deficiencies. They are a B2C company in the food and beverage industry.

LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 3k LinkedIn followers — 13.8% of this cohort's audience
Activity: 1 expansions announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
  • Dec 2017Conventional Debt$220K
Founders & team
Angel FrenchCo-FounderClare VerderyChief Executive Officer
Investors
AEP, Ansley Capital Group
Tech stack
Alpine.JsAmazon PayAmerican ExpressApple PayCloudflareCore-Js

Funding & investor landscape

$27.2Mtotal disclosed funding
6companies funded
12disclosed rounds
0rounds last 90 days
Most active investors
One Degree Ventures2 rounds
AEP1 rounds
Ansley Capital Group1 rounds
Curate Capital1 rounds
Good Growth Capital1 rounds
Lineage Capital1 rounds
Manna Tree1 rounds
SC Launch1 rounds
Third Prime1 rounds
Wiregrass Equity Partners1 rounds

Notable founders

Geoff Rhyne
Owner · Red Clay Hot Sauce
Jason Burke
Founder · The New Primal
Sam Norton
Founder · Heron Farms
Angel French
Co-Founder · Shine Water
Clare Verdery
Chief Executive Officer · Shine Water
Prism market signals · United States · country-scoped Prism corpus, 2,042,753 docs

Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage

Share of Food and Agriculture coverage by sub-theme.

Regulatory-risk over time rising

Funding & growth over time

funding rising · growth rising

RESEARCH SIGNALS · United States

How research on Agritech is moving in the United States

A read on the academic research around Agritech — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 652 United States-affiliated papers.

research sentiment over time
201020192026
enthusiastic · positive · guarded tone
Tone is overwhelmingly optimistic and intensifying — the enthusiastic (strongly-positive) share moved 24% → 62% across 2010–2026.
top research entities
  • International Food Policy Research Institute25
  • University of California, Davis22
  • Cornell University22
  • University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign17
  • Agricultural & Applied Economics Association17
leading researchers
Saraju P. Mohanty · Bouali Et-taibi · Mohamed Riduan Abid · H.S. Jat · Andrea Cattaneo · Leslie Lipper · El‐Mahjoub Boufounas · Driss Benhaddou
▲ Breakthroughs103 · 16%
▲ 2%→22% share
▲11.0× share momentum2 median citations92% since 2021mostly methods-led
Breakthroughs are rising (2%→22% of field), led by Robot.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
  • Robot1→19
Newly emergingAgriculture 0→51 · Precision agriculture 0→17 · Cloud computing 0→11
Landmark The Robotanist: A ground-based agricultural robot for high-throughput crop phenotyping · 151 cites
◆ Advancements253 · 39%
▲ 32%→42% share
▲1.3× share momentum3 median citations71% since 2021mostly empirical
Advancements are rising (32%→42% of field), led by Agriculture.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
  • Agriculture24→127
  • Robot4→21
  • Climate change2→17
  • Agroforestry3→15
  • Productivity2→13
Newly emergingInternet of Things 0→18 · Agricultural engineering 0→15 · Precision agriculture 0→13
Landmark Responses of soil carbon sequestration to climate‐smart agriculture practices: A meta‐analysis · 470 cites
▼ Concerns186 · 29%
▼ 39%→25% share
▼0.6× share momentum6 median citations57% since 2021mostly empirical
Concerns are cooling (39%→25% of field), led by Agriculture.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
  • Agriculture35→83
  • Food security7→25
  • Productivity2→10
  • Agricultural economics2→10
  • Internet of Things1→8
Newly emergingAgroforestry 0→10 · Sustainability 0→9 · Agricultural science 0→7
Landmark Climate-smart agriculture: what is it good for? · 334 cites
RESEARCH HOTSPOTS · United States

Where agritech is researched across United States

Location clusters by institution affiliation — each city's volume, stance tone, and a quick read on its hot topic, what's advancing, the opening opportunity, and the main concern.

New York23 · +0.10
Hot · AgricultureOpportunity · Robot
SF Bay Area15 · +0.03
Hot · Natural resource economicsOpportunity · GreenhouseConcern · Agriculture
Ann Arbor7 · +0.01
Opportunity · Cover crop
Boston6 · +0.60
Hot · AgricultureOpportunity · Agricultural engineering
Atlanta6 · +0.75
Opportunity · Internet of Things
PATENT SIGNAL · United States

Who's filing agritech patents in the United States

United States agritech patent filing is accelerating — 24 filings from 35 assignees (2016–2025), led by Microsoft, Vision Robotics, Koselka Harvey; annual filings 1→5.

24 filings35 assigneespeak 5/yr2016–2025
filing momentum (YoY 2016–2025)
top patent filers
  • Microsoft7
  • Vision Robotics5
  • Koselka Harvey5
  • Wallach BRET5
  • IBM4
  • X DEV3
  • Gerrish Steven R3
  • CROP One Holdings2

Common questions

How many Food and Agriculture companies are there in Charleston, United States?
Radar tracks 37 indexable Food and Agriculture companies headquartered in Charleston, United States that meet our profile-completeness bar.
What is the total funding raised by Food and Agriculture companies in Charleston, United States?
The Food and Agriculture companies in Charleston, United States on this list have raised a combined $27.2M in disclosed equity funding across 6 funded companies.
Which is the highest-funded Food and Agriculture company in Charleston, United States?
The New Primal is the highest-funded Food and Agriculture company in Charleston, United States, with $21.2M in disclosed equity funding.
How many Food and Agriculture companies in Charleston, United States are funded?
6 of the 37 Food and Agriculture companies in Charleston, United States on this list have disclosed at least one equity funding round.
How many Food and Agriculture unicorns are there in Charleston, United States?
None of the Food and Agriculture companies in Charleston, United States on this list currently has a disclosed valuation of $1B or more.
Who are the top investors in Charleston, United States Food and Agriculture companies?
The most active investors in Charleston, United States Food and Agriculture companies on this list include One Degree Ventures, AEP, Ansley Capital Group, Curate Capital, Good Growth Capital.
Rohit KhannaTrends & Stories

Rohit lives in the feed. He covers what's moving right now — the funding rounds, launches and shifts breaking across the trade press — and ties them back to where the sector is heading.

Coming soon