Soplaya, a foodtech startup that has developed a groundbreaking digital procurement channel for Italian restaurants, has announced the closing of a €12.5 million financing round, including €11.5 million in equity, provided by Sinergia Venture Fund (Alkemia Capital), which was lead investor in the deal, and by investors who had participated in the previous round (P101, Azimut and CDP Venture Capital, through the Italia Venture I fund), and €1 million provided by Intesa San Paolo in debt financing. Including the €3.5 million raised in July 2020, the round brings the total funding raised by the foodtech company to €16 million.
Mauro Germani, CEO of Soplaya, envisions a future where independent restaurants and small-medium chains have equal access to fast, efficient deliveries and quality ingredients at transparent, fair prices, irrespective of their size or negotiating skills.
He commented: “Technology and automation, applied to every step of the restaurant supply chain, will radically improve transparency, efficiency and sustainability, and ultimately bring time and cost savings that were previously only available to huge hospitality players After our first round in 2020, we set up 3 lean and modular hubs and we are now able to launch them just 45 days, and grow three times faster with each launch. Also thanks to the resources raised through this round, we now aim to consolidate our presence in the Italian market, while preparing to expand in new geographies. Applying AI to operations and demand prediction will be the next big thing in the coming years for Soplaya and our community of restaurants and suppliers.”
Launched in 2018, Soplaya operates as a digital wholesaler for restaurants, providing easy access to a new range of artisan, local, or niche products, as well as food brands, and aggregating delivery orders via its mobile app, its 3 logistics hubs, and its fleet of refrigerated trucks. It has performed more than 100,000 deliveries, supplied more than 1,000,000 products, and served more than 2,000 restaurants, bars and hotels in 15 Italian cities. The company democratizes access to the B2B food supply chain to all producers, big and small, by avoiding any investment in sales, logistics, deliveries, orders, payments and invoice management. It is not just a marketplace, but a comprehensive tool that empowers chefs and restaurant owners to take back control of their purchase data, create ingredient lists for menus, place orders in a single click, receive tailored product suggestions, and get precise delivery notifications to the minute.
With its technology and network of logistics hubs, Soplaya is able to serve thousands of products from more than 300 suppliers to hundreds of customers every day within 24 hours, without delivery fees.
Giacomo Picchetto, Partner at Alkemia Capital, added: “We are honoured to be the lead investor in this round of Soplaya. Our fund invests in innovative B2B technology scale-ups with high growth potential in Italy and abroad, cutting-edge technology and a complete and excellent team: Soplaya presents all these characteristics, which position it in the European scenario as a potential leader in “disrupting” a high-growth, anti-cyclical but still traditional sector such as the supply of ingredients and products to the HoReCa industry.”
Over the past two years, Soplaya has invested significantly in expanding its team with top talents, reaching 55 people, and automating every aspect of a B2B food supply chain where 20% of the value is lost due to distribution inefficiencies.
Soplaya’s transformation of the B2B food supply chain involves automating all operations and transitioning them online to bring forth a better, fairer, and more sustainable digital end-to-end supply chain. This initiative aims to boost profits for chefs and suppliers by up to 10%, reduce carbon emissions by 50%, and minimize food waste to just 1%.
Soplaya was assisted in the deal by law firm LCA (attorneys Andrea Messuti and Flavia Visco) while law firm McDermott (attorneys: Enrico Raso and Stefano Pardini) supported Sinergia Venture Fund.
