TastyUrban raises €6.5 million to create the largest digital-first restaurant franchise

Berlin-based TastyUrban, an asset-light digital-first restaurant franchise, has raised €6.5 million in funding to roll out additional brands, with an international expansion planned.

The lead investor was IBB Ventures, with participation from Fulcrum, Monte Carlo Capital and existing investors Earlybird-X and Cardumen Capital.

“We are not only solving a real issue for restauranteurs by optimising their kitchen performance and processes, generating significant incremental revenue for them, but are enabling small business owners to access and license our brands with minimal investment,” says Felix Chrobog, CEO and Co-founder of TastyUrban.

TastyUrban was founded by Felix Chrobog, Marc Hansell, and Gerry Pidgeon in 2022. All three have in-depth industry expertise and have either Co-founded or held senior management positions at companies such as Gorillas, Tier, and Deliveroo.

TastyUrban develops and licenses out innovative food brands to underutilised restaurant and retail partners, reportedly generating monthly incremental revenue for them without incurring additional costs. In an increasingly competitive sector, TastyUrban has tapped into a significant opportunity of turning low-capacity spaces into host kitchens for its digital-first brands model.

Driven by the rapid growth of online food delivery operators, brick-and-mortar restaurants struggle. As per TastyUrban, 60% of new restaurants fail within year one, and 80% are insolvent within 5 years.

According to TastyUrban, restaurant owners face significant challenges. First, their space is underutilised with a shrinking in-house business while fixed and variable costs continue to increase. In addition, many lack innovation, are unable to differentiate from competitors, and lack digitalisation and brand-building know-how. With TastyUrban’s end-to-end platform, restaurants can potentially optimise their cost structure and operate profitable businesses.

Through TastyUrban’s dual market research approach – identifying both international trends and analysing missing local cuisine gaps – the company has rolled out multiple consumer brands including Birdie Birdie, Nanuh, and Fly Dumplings. Additional ones in the development phase range from fast-casual to fresh and health-centric concepts across Europe.

The company partners with 80+ restaurants across 25 cities in Germany which offer consumer access to its brands via delivery platforms such as UberEats, Wolt, and Lieferando.

TastyUrban is built around four key areas of impact:

1. It partners with international chefs to develop best-in-market, delivery-first food concepts.

2. Host kitchens, using pre-existing personnel and infrastructure gain access to exclusive brands and can generate new revenue channels through TastyUrban’s scalable licensing model.

3. Small gastronomy business owners can procure licenses to operate TastyUrban brands with investments “significantly below” traditional franchise market standards.

4. Consumers benefit from innovative brands that are specifically designed for delivery.

Roman Pimonov, Investment Manager from IBB Ventures says: “We believe that TastyUrban’s multi-brand approach falls perfectly in line with current consumer and food trends. By enabling restaurant owners to massively boost their revenues and accelerating time-to-market for new products as well, especially in underserved geographies, Felix, Marc and Gerry will define a new understanding of consumer benefits and we are more than happy to support this exceptional team on their mission.”

The post TastyUrban raises €6.5 million to create the largest digital-first restaurant franchise appeared first on EU-Startups.