HomeFundingLondon-based premium restaurant and hospitality e-commerce solution Slerp lands €8.1 million

London-based premium restaurant and hospitality e-commerce solution Slerp lands €8.1 million

Today Slerp, a leading e-commerce partner for premium restaurants and hospitality brands, has closed Seed and Series A rounds in quick succession, raising a total of approx. 8.1 million this year.

These two rounds have been led by Eight Roads Ventures, Jigsaw VC and supported by TrueSight Ventures, Aldea Ventures, as well as high-profile angels including Rumi Verjee, founder of Dominos UK & The Rumi Foundation. The fresh funds will be used to further build out the platform and expand the team, across all functions, gearing up for international expansion in Europe.

Founded in 2016, Slerp provides a customisable e-commerce solution for hospitality brands, enabling them to transact with customers directly from their own websites, whilst controlling their brand image, customer data and settings. Until recently, the main option for the sector has been marketplace or aggregator delivery services who charge high commission and focus on on-demand orders. Slerp takes just 7.5% in fees and provides a suite of other wrap around services, such as digital marketing and management of the complete ecommerce process for all order types. This enables partners to accept direct orders, manage production planning and connect to delivery services of their choice (or deliver themselves). Brands who use the platform include Jose Pizzaro, The Savoy, Galvin Restaurants, Ottolenghi, JKS Restaurants and Gaucho, with the startup having processed over 200,000 transactions in the last 6 months alone.

Slerp has seen 500%+ percent growth this year compared to the same period last year. The fresh investment places the company in pole position to capitalise on the growth of home dining and the delivery sector, projected to catapult over the next few years.

“Slerp provides a very different service to marketplaces in this sector. We are powering the next evolution of online ordering by becoming a digital business partner to brands, enabling them to have a direct relationship with their customers and significantly more control of their online channel. Because our roots are as food brand owners and establishment operators, we have purposefully listened to our peers to create a platform solution that provides significantly more control compared to marketplaces, and contributes to both the top and bottom line for businesses. It’s a very exciting time for the sector as it trends towards being more omnichannel and digitally enabled,” said founder, JP Then.

Davor Hebel, Head of Eight Roads Ventures Europe commented, “Slerp has enabled hospitality businesses who have been hard hit during the pandemic to launch an online offering quickly and to continue serving customers through successive lockdowns. As the economy re-opens, these businesses have an established new business line which will strengthen them for the long-term and allow them to reach a much broader customer base. We have been very impressed by the rapid growth that Slerp has achieved over the last year. We are thrilled to partner with JP and the team as Slerp looks to power hospitality ecommerce across Europe.”

Slerp has enabled brands to offer local on-demand ordering, as well as nationwide delivery, supporting industry trends that show greater online penetration of the hospitality industry in the last year. Recent research by Slerp and KAM Media has also shown that demand for ‘dine at home’ solutions from restaurants remain very high, with 9 out of 10 people wanting brands to continue to offer a direct online ordering solution.

Chris Galvin at the Michelin starred Galvin Restaurants added: “Slerp has enabled us to connect directly with thousands of new customers and is the best in class of it’s type. The platform has allowed us to deliver the Galvin experience across the country. We see it as an essential revenue stream, and are already seeing customers using at home and in-restaurant services, for key occasion at home. Though we have paused as we reopen our sites, we have big plans for Galvin at home.”

Their research also showed that 11.5 million UK adults (22%) have ordered a ‘cook at home’ meal box in the last 12 months, with an even larger proportion (40%) intending to purchase in the future. It also signalled that 62% want their favourite restaurant brands to start selling ‘cook at home’ meal boxes nationwide.

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Charlotte Tucker
Charlotte Tucker
Charlotte is the previous Editor at EU-Startups.com. She spends her time scouting the next big story, managing our contributor team, and getting excited about social impact ventures. She has previously worked as a Communications Consultant for number of European Commission funded startup projects.
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