Asset-light virtual restaurant franchise, TastyUrban, is cooking up a new generation of restaurant usage and strategy. The startup has just secured €1.5 million to launch new partnerships across Europe.
Since the days of the pandemic and the rising popularity of food delivery, the restaurant and hospitality trade has changed significantly. The market, across Europe, is now confronted with an over-supply of restaurants and low kitchen utilization, whilst demand for quality, personalised and deliverable restaurant food continues to grow.
TastyUrban is tapping into these market shifts, turning restaurants into host kitchens for virtual brands. The startup develops and licenses out innovative food brands to underutilized restaurant partners, and has just picked up €1.5 million in seed funding to do it.
The funding was led by Earlybird with strategic angels including Alexander Artope, CEO & Founder of Smava, and Ronny Shibley, CTO & Co-Founder of Gorillas.
Founded in 2022 by Felix Chrobog, Marc Hansell and Gerry Pidgeon, TastyUrban takes an asset-light, partnership-based approach to restaurants. Based on dual-market research (identifying both international trends and analyzing missing local cuisine gaps), the startup develops delivery-first food concepts, which are licensed out to local restaurant partners.
It aims to roll out a large number of consumer-facing brands from fast-casual to fresh and health-centric concepts across Europe. The company’s first brand, Birdie Birdie, which was launched in November 2022, is already accessible to customers through eight restaurant partners in Berlin.
Felix Chrobog: “We are confident about solving a real issue for restauranteurs by optimizing their kitchen performance and processes, and injecting innovative new food trends and concepts into underserved neighbourhoods with the goal of becoming the largest virtual multi-brand restaurant franchise in Europe.”
TastyUrban partners with acclaimed international chefs to develop best-in-market, delivery-first food concepts, providing consumers with the special quality they want. It also gives host restaurants access to exclusive brands so that they can generate new revenue channels through TastyUrban’s unique scalable licensing model.
It provides restauranteurs with the opportunity to fully draw on their available kitchen space to generate significant monthly incremental revenue without incurring additional costs. The innovative tech stack ensures efficiency across its virtual brand network by streamlining restaurant operations and digitizing an outdated industry.
The new funding will be used to roll out additional brands and cities across Germany, with international expansion planned for later this year.
Philipp Semmer from Earlybird-X: “I have known Felix for many years and have always been impressed by his performance in the food delivery industry. I am convinced he is the right founder and CEO to take the virtual brands concept within this industry to the next level.”
