Spoon Guru, a London-based AI-powered food search and discovery technology start-up that has worked with Tesco, has secured a Series A funding round with W23, the Venture Capital arm of Australia’s largest retailer, Woolworths Group.
The firm stated that the “multi-million dollar investment” would be used to expand its footprint with retailers across APAC, North America and Europe, at a time when governments are putting a greater focus on the importance of food and health to boost national health.
Spoon Guru was co-founded in 2015 by Markus Stripf, Tim Allen and Simon O’Regan, and its board Chairman is ex-Asda CEO, Andy Clarke. The firm launched into the UK with a Tesco partnership that supported shoppers with individual dietary preferences when using the retailer’s online store.
Since then, Spoon Guru has been growing its international presence. In 2018, Spoon Guru partnered with Woolworths to support its health strategy in Australia & New Zealand and since then has secured further retail partnerships in the Netherlands and the US.
Spoon Guru said it plans to use the new investment to continue expansion across the US, Europe and further afield. It will also use the funds to fuel product innovation.
Spoon Guru enables food retailers to deliver personalised experiences tailored to each customer, based on their unique dietary, health, and wellness needs. Recent product launches include the Immunity Support TAG in response to the pandemic and beyond as well as a health and wellness suite of products which together help shoppers to make better choices.
Stripf commented: “With governments worldwide launching campaigns to tackle obesity and related lifestyle diseases, consumers are now thinking about how food impacts their health and wellness. There is a desire from shoppers for healthier choices and with a significant swing to online shopping, grocery retailers have the opportunity to use technologies like Spoon Guru to drive and scale healthier baskets.
“It is our mission to provide retailers with the tools they need to ensure healthier food discovery, thereby improving basket sizes and values and in turn driving customer loyalty and growth for our partners. The funding will ensure we can further develop our product suite and expertise in driving towards this goal.”
