Just Eat grabs slice of foodtech startups
Just Eat has backed five foodtech startups, giving it a slice of any potential competitors in the sector.
The online takeaway delivery company, which is battling slowing UK order growth on its own platform, has invested £20,000 in five fledgling companies for a 5% stake in each to boost London’s budding foodtech scene.
The winning companies begin a 10-week accelerator programme today, having beaten around 150 other applicants.
Among them are CityMunch, an app that offers users discounts at restaurants during quieter times, and ShareDining, which allows kitchen owners to rent out spare space for extra cash.
“London has a fantastic foodtech community and we want to be more involved in that and be a champion for the startups,” said Stuart Mainwaring, Just Eat’s new head of corporate ventures.
“London foodtech is thriving but it needs to grow. If more companies can be inspired by what we’re doing and start setting up their own accelerator programmes as well then we can start helping the London startup community.”
He added: “This isn’t a one-off programme – we hope to have many more.”