The global contract catering market, valued at approximately €285 billion ($300 billion), is crucial to the daily well-being of millions of employees and students.
Danish SaaS startup Kanpla aims to disrupt the contract catering industry by digitalising it. Today, it announced an €8 million Series A funding round led by Dutch venture capital firm HenQ.
The new investment will further fuel its international expansion across Europe and the United States.
“Kanpla growing incredibly well”
“Kanpla is growing incredibly well. It is truly exceptional how they expanded from their home market to multiple countries successfully so quickly, which makes you wonder about all the other great things this team can do.”
“Their progress inspired us to do something we almost never do: lead an internal follow-on round, without any new external money joining the round – the biggest sign of bullishness we can give,” said Jan Andriessen, Partner at HenQ.
The contract catering industry faces ongoing challenges such as reducing food waste, meeting ESG sustainability goals, and managing irregular customer flow.
Kanpla digital platform
Kanpla’s digital platform addresses these issues by enabling canteens to optimise operations and enhance the customer experience.
Only 28% of businesses require employees to work full-time from the office, and educational institutions are increasingly adopting hybrid models, so the demand for flexibility in canteen services has never been higher.
The United States accounts for a significant portion of the global contract catering industry, with an estimated annual market size exceeding $53 billion.
As the largest region for catering services, North America presents numerous opportunities for Kanpla to introduce its effective solutions to new clients.
Consequently, the recent funding will be used to launch the product in the U.S. in 2025.
“We’ve seen tremendous demand for digital transformation across Europe’s contract catering sector. Our platform is helping caterers deliver more personalised experiences, better manage fluctuating foot traffic, and reduce food waste,” Peter Bæch, CEO and co-founder, says.
Expanding
In less than two years, the Danish startup has expanded its operations from Denmark to 10 European countries, including Scandinavia, the UK, and Benelux.
With now a team of 45, Kanpla wants to double its workforce over the next year to support its growth ambitions.
The platform is currently being used by over 3,000 canteens in both workplaces and educational institutions.
It enables more than 250,000 users to view menus that display CO2 emissions and nutritional information, make purchases, earn loyalty points, and provide feedback.
Users can access these features through the app, point-of-sale systems, or the web.
“As the workplace culture has changed, we’ve noticed key challenges like increased amounts of food waste, excessive manual work, and disconnected systems. We believe software can be a significant enabler in overcoming these issues and aim to position ourselves as the global technology leader in contract catering, helping chefs worldwide save time and creating the best possible customer experience,” says Jonas Gøttler, COO and co-founder.
HenQ: a little different
HenQ is an Amsterdam-based early-stage VC fund that invests in European early-stage B2B software businesses that are “simply a little different,” whether their industry is considered boring, the founders are overly obsessed, or the business model is atypical.
Ticket sizes range from €1 to 10 million.
They lead Kanpla last year’s €2.2 million seed round that was set to bring Kanpla to the Dutch market.
The founders of the Danish startup, the then 21-year-old entrepreneurs Peter Bæch and Jonas Gøttler, were among some of the youngest ever in Europe to raise €2M or more.
HenQ was an early-backer of freshly minted hotel software unicorn Mews, dating back to its €6 million Series A.
Other noteworthy HenQ portfolio companies are HousingAnywhere, Sendcloud, and Cloudtalk. Among their exits are SEOShop, Mendix, and Studytube.
