Food waste startup Too Good To Go gobbles up €6m from investors

Danish leftover food startup Too Good To Go has grabbed €6m (£5.3m) from some of its existing investors, as it prepares to expand into four new countries in 2019.

The firm, which enables users to collect leftover dishes from restaurants and stores at discounted prices, has partnered with 1,500 retailers in London to date, including Yo Sushi, Konditor & Cook and Chop’d.

“The reality is that it’s standard practice for food businesses to throw away perfectly edible food," explained chief executive Mette Lykke. 

"We give them the flexibility to offer up anything that’s still good to eat and sell it to consumers through the app at a discounted price. It’s a win for retailers, because they reduce waste, acquire customers and increase revenue, it’s a win for consumers who get great food for a reduced price, and it’s obviously a win for the environment which is our main motivation.”

Headquartered in Copenhagen, its London office is expected to double in size by the summer to a team of 40.

The app now has 7.5m users across nine countries in Europe, and reached the milestone of 10m meals this week. 

This latest round of funding takes the startup's total backing to date to €16m, led by existing investors including former Trustpilot executive Jesper Lindhardt.

"Too Good To Go has a unique opportunity to tackle a very serious environmental issue with a smart business model," said Lykke. 

"Across the value chain and across borders, the issue of food waste is complex and hard to fix. By creating a new market for surplus food, we ensure more food gets eaten, making businesses and consumers winners in the process."