A daily newsletter summarizing recent activity & interesting start-ups globally
RECENT NOTABLE ACTIVITY – FOOD TECH
- Yijiupi, a B2B wine retailer raises $100M in a series C round led by GreenWoods Asset Investments. Link
- Meal kit delivery startup HomeChef raises $40M in a series B round led by L Catterton. Link
- Beyond Meat, a purveyor of plant-based burger patties raises $23M in a series F round from Tyson Foods. Link
- TouchBistro, a PoS solution company for restaurants raises $12M in a series B round led by BDC IT Venture Fund. Link
- EatStreet, online platform for ordering food from restaurants raises $11M in a series C round. Link
- Nigerian on-demand delivery startup Metro Africa Express acquires Lagos-based restaurant aggregator Easyappetite. Link
SOME INTERESTING STARTUPS FOUND
Sonn bevsys (2016, Vancouver) – A personal beverage robot that uses AI to make single serve coffee, tea and wine as per recipes.
Gingerabbit.com (2016, Singapore) – A food discovery platform for dishes and restaurants based on dietary preferences.
LEADER BOARD – FOOD TECH
Ordering & Delivery
GrubHub (2004, Chicago, IPO) – Online and mobile platform for ordering food. Went public in 2014.
JustEat (2001, London, IPO) – Online ordering service. Take-away only. Went public in 2014.
Ele.me (2008, Shanghai, $2.34B) – Online ordering and delivery of food from restaurants with its own logistics network. Backed by Tencent, CitiCapital, Beijing-Hualian, Sequoia Capital etc.
DeliveryHero (2010, Berlin, $1.37B) – Online food ordering service. Backed by Rocket Internet and Insight Ventures.
Discovery
Zomato (2008, Gurgaon, $225M) – Online and mobile restaurant discovery service. Currently in 22 countries. Backed by Sequoia.
Table Booking
Open Table (1998, SF, IPO, Acq) – Online marketplace for restaurant reservation. Offers table-booking management system to restaurant owners. Went public in 2009. Acquired by Priceline in 2014.
BookaTable (2006, London, $63M, Acq) – Real time table booking. Provides marketing, database management and technical support to Restaurants. Acquired Swedish company 2Book in 2014. Backed by Balderton. Acquired by Michelin in 2016.
Quandoo (2012, Berlin, $33M) – Online platform for restaurant reservation platform in Germany. Backed by Recruit Holdings.
Alcohol Delivery
Jiuxian (2010, Beijing, $251M) – An e-commerce liquor retail chain. Specializes in sales of high grade wine. Backed by Sequoia.
Yi Jiu Pi (2014, Beijing, $175M) – B2B e-commerce platform for wine and spirits. Backed by GreenWoods Asset.
9bianli (2010, Zhengzhou, $61M) – Online retailer and O2O service provider for liquor. Backed by Legend Holdings.
Internet First Restaurants
Munchery (2011, SF, $117M) – Internet first gourmet meal delivery service. Backed by Shepra Ventures.
Sprig (2013, SF, $56M) – Mobile based food ordering service (healthy organic meals). Delivery within 15 mins. Launched in Chicago in June 2015. Backed by Greylock.
Freshly (2012, NYC, $29.5M) – Subscription based chef prepared meal delivery service. Backed by Insight Ventures.
Groceries
Ocado (2002, Hatfield, IPO) – Online grocery retailing company. Entered into a partnership with Morrisons in 2014, became profitable for first time in 2015. Went public in 2010.
Womai (2008, Beijing, $330M) – Healthy food ordering and delivery service in China. Backed by COFCO, Taikang, Baidu and SAIF.
Instacart (2012, SF, $275M) – Marketplace for same day grocery delivery. Calls in a personal shopper for picking items from local supermarkets. Backed by Sequoia and Khosla Ventures.
Recipe Box
Hello Fresh (2012, Berlin, $278.5M) – Weekly subscription based service that provides 3-4 recipes and related grocery. Sources seasonal and local organic food. Backed by Rocket Internet.
Blue Apron (2012, NYC, $194M) – Delivers meal kits, including pre-measured ingredients and recipes, in refrigerated boxes. Backed by Fidelity.
Plated (2012, NYC, $80M) – Offers a subscription box service that contains meal ingredients and recipes by partnered chefs. Backed by Greycroft.
Food Substitutes
Impossible Foods (2011, Redwood City, $183M) – Sustainable food company focusing on plant based meat substitutes. Backed by Google Ventures and Khosla Ventures.
Hampton Creek (2011, SF, $120M) – Food technology company making plant based egg substitutes. Backed by Khosla Ventures.
Soylent (2013, LA, $22M) – Makes meal replacement shakes. Offers DIY to customers to make the drink. Backed by Andreessen Horowitz.
Leaderboard includes all the top funded, IPO and successfully running bootstrapped companies along with their location, founding year and funding amount.
For latest update, visit FoodTech feed.