Choco, a provider of supply chain software, raised $111 million to continue growing and developing its technology.
The capital came from existing investors G Squared and Insight Partners, and follows a $100 million fundraise in July, pushing the company’s valuation to $1.2 billion.
Choco offers a free mobile app for restaurants to order from and communicate with their suppliers. It also has an app for suppliers that allows them to manage orders. The idea is to make ordering products more efficient, thus reducing food waste. The company’s user base has grown by 350% worldwide over the past year.
“High user demand has reinforced the critical need for solutions that make food supply chains more transparent and sustainable, increase margins for this under-served sector, and combat climate change,” said CEO Daniel Khachab in a statement.
It said it would use the funding to continue developing its technology and support its growth in the U.S. and Europe as well as new markets. Choco was founded in 2018 and is active in the U.S., Germany, France, Spain, Austria and Belgium. It said it wants to digitize 100% of the global food wholesale market by 2026.
Restaurant ordering has undergone a big shift from in-person to online since the start of the pandemic. Ordering on the supply side has started to follow suit. A number of companies, including Choco, Cheetah and Odeko, have emerged to help digitize transactions in an effort to save time, generate better data and lower costs.
Supply chain snarls have been a major pain point for restaurants over the past year due to labor shortages and imbalances in supply and demand.
“We are excited to see Choco develop its potential to modernize the food supply chain, at a time when we believe it’s needed now more than ever,” said Larry Aschebrook, managing partner at G Squared, in a statement.
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