Paris, France, 27th Sep 2022, (King NewsWire) – Not So Dark, a Parisian food tech startup, raised $80 million in Series B funding to help restaurants thrive in the post-pandemic world. The round was led by Kharis Capital and Verlinvest, with additional participation from Conviviality Ventures. To date, Not So Dark has raised $105 million.
Compared to the average Series B in Europe of $47.3 million, this is a significantly large raise, which reflects both the current opportunity in the market as well as Not So Dark’s position in the space.
During the pandemic, Not So Dark competed with kitchens through a ghost kitchen model, but quickly shifted gears to focus on franchising their virtual delivery model to physical restaurants. This enabled smaller eateries the ability to run a mobile delivery operation from their own kitchens with a digital franchise that works in the background.
Founded in 2020, during a time when physical restaurants were struggling to survive, Not So Dark’s co-founders Clement Benoit and Alexandre Haggai saw an opportunity to help.
“Pivoting and starting from zero was a massive undertaking… but [the] future of the online delivery industry [is] in forging partnerships with traditional restaurants — not competing with them,” said Clement Benoit, co-founder of Not So Dark.
The firm uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to power its integrated data analytics platform which is responsive to price, demand, and competition changes. The company has a dedicated research and development team that continuously optimizes menus to meet market demand through original brands like Vegedal, Como Kitchen, Coquillettes, JFK Burgers, and Gaïa Pita.
Headquartered in France, the company has a portfolio of 150 partners that operate in more than 100 cities. With the fresh capital, Not So Dark plans to expand its footprint “across Europe at a very fast pace,” said Benoit.
Not So Dark claims that its franchised virtual delivery model boosts the profits of existing kitchens by over £50,000 per month with no need for additional investment, overhead, or interruption of existing kitchen activity. This is achieved by unifying all delivery platforms in a single NSD app and quick assembly of orders. The firm offers an “invisible footprint” that doesn’t require any changes to an establishment’s existing business.
In just 15 days, the Not So Dark team comes in and optimizes space for fast assembly – equipment, workflow and all. The new injection of capital will help the company expand its market leadership in France while also moving into new markets across Europe.
With a portfolio of 9 brands, 300 virtual restaurants, and an audience of 30 million, Not So Dark has quickly become a go-to provider for high-growth companies that want a one-stop shop for their food delivery needs.
Media Contact
Organization: Not So Dark
Contact Person: Clément Benoit
Email: hello@notsodark.com
Website: https://notsodark.com/en/
City: Paris
Country: France