The Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge in South Texas is the number one land port of entry for fresh produce in North America. Billions of dollars in perishable goods cross the bridge every year, managed by independent distributors working on tight cashflow cycles, with perishable goods, and on software systems built decades ago.
Harva has recently closed $113 million in total debt and equity funding to continue building the future operating system for the perishable goods industry.
The domestic produce wholesale market is estimated at $85 billion, part of a global perishable goods industry (which includes goods like dairy, meat, poultry, produce, eggs, beverage, confections and pharmaceuticals) estimated to exceed $1 trillion.
Most fresh produce distributors still run their operations on spreadsheets, WhatsApp, and legacy software, and 50 to 70% of no formal ERP system at all. Those same companies are also subject to 30 to 40-plus day cashflow cycles, which can make running cash intensive businesses business even more difficult. FDA, FSMA Section 204, which was supposed to take effect January 20, 2026, adds urgency to the modernization of this supply chain. Industry surveys found 40% to 60% of produce companies were not compliant at the prior deadline.
Harva solves all three problems on one platform. Distributors get a modern ERP that enables AI-native operational efficiency, embedded invoice financing that alleviates their tight cashflow cycles and built-in lot-level traceability that satisfy satisfies FSMA Section 204 from day one.
On the operations side, distributors get real-time inventory visibility, lot-level traceability, a built-in general ledger, and most importantly, a system of action you can wield with natural language from your mobile device or your desktop. That same operational data powers embedded invoice financing, enabling sellers to receive liquidity on their transactions faster than ever before, all on the same platform. The longer the longer a company runs on Harva, the more intelligent the financing decisions become.
The company is live with paying customers and processing real transactions across the US-Mexico border daily. We provided liquidity to over $12 million in trade transactions last year.
Harva is headquarters in the Rio Grande Valley, close to the border crossings cold storage operators and distributors it serves.
Editor’s Note: The above commentary was penned by William Steele, CEO and co-founder of Harva. The commentary appears in the RGG Business Journal with the permission of the author.
Harva (formerly Supply Pay) exists to modernize how perishable goods companies run their operations and access capital. Based in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas, the company serves fresh produce distributors with an AI-native ERP and embedded invoice financing built specifically for the realities of the perishable goods trade. Harva was founded by William Steele and George Ayala. For more information go to harva.ai
