GOVO Venture Partners Invests in Starfish Technology Inc.
Winter Park, Florida - GOVO Venture Partners made its 10th portfolio company investment since announcing the launch of its venture fund, GOVO Fund I, in January, 2023. The investment is part of a seed round for New York based Starfish.
Starfish offers a technology platform and data network enabling transparency, safety, and trustin food supply chains worldwide. Built to connect a network of technology solutions, Starfishensures that food companies can share the right information with the right trading partners,automatically and securely, without changing the systems they already use. The platformtranslates data from diverse sources into the industry-standard GS1 protocol, which ensures consistent and reliable communication across all supply chain partners, regardless of theirnative data formats.
As food transparency and traceability has become increasingly important to both consumers and governments, Starfish’s platform provides participants in the food supply chain a solution for complying with the requirements of the Food Safety Modernization Act in the US, which will require detailed food supply tracing and tracking for high-risk foods beginning in 2026. In addition to supporting regulatory compliance, Starfish empowers companies to reduce product waste and ensure product safety through every stage of the supply chain. Rob Panepinto, GOVO’s managing general partner, said of the investment,
“The global trend toward transparency in food supply chains requires seamless information exchange. Starfish’s platform provides the solution, enabling partners from around the world to participate and share data. As the Food Safety Modernization Act and other regulations are adopted, Starfish supports compliance for food companies of all sizes.” Rob will join the Starfish Board of Directors.
Wiggs Civitillo, co-founder and CEO of Starfish, said, “We’re excited to have Govo Ventures as a partner in our mission to transform the way food companies share data. Their investment and support will help us expand Starfish’s reach, enabling more businesses to seamlessly connect, comply with regulations, and build a more transparent and resilient supply chain. With Govo Ventures’ deep experience in the intersection of government, regulation, and technology, they bring invaluable expertise in navigating compliance frameworks and scaling solutions that meet stringent regulatory requirements like FSMA 204. Their strategic support will help accelerate Starfish’s mission to make food safety and traceability more efficient and accessible for the entire industry.”
ABOUT GOVO VENTURE PARTNERS
GOVO Venture Partners is a Winter Park, Florida based company. GOVO Fund I is a venture fund that invests, seed round through series A, in early-stage companies for which doing business with government or navigating government regulations is an important success factor.
For more information, please visit www.govovp.com.
ABOUT STARFISH
Starfish offers a universal foundation for supply chain data exchange, empowering businesses and solution providers to connect and share traceability data seamlessly across platforms. By making data exchange easier and more reliable, Starfish helps businesses meet food safety regulations, improve transparency, and work more efficiently.
For more information visit https://www.starfish-network.com.