KITRO Secures Additional Funding to Combat Food Waste

Founded in 2017 by hospitality insiders, KITRO is a Swiss company embarking on a global challenge to harness the power of data to save valuable resources and bring back the value to all food, so that it is appreciated and not wasted.

With global hotel partners such as Hyatt EMEA and Four Seasons Hotel Group, KITRO is already present in over 20 countries and aims to increase their presence and impact globally. The new funding will enable KITRO to expand its market reach and accelerate its sustainability goal of achieving verified reductions in food waste. The round was led by Zintinus, an investor into the positive transition of the food system, joined by Pymwymic, a leading impact investor, as well as multiple historic investors.

When food is discarded, associated resources and environmental consequences go to waste with no benefit for human nutrition. The food service industry is responsible for a substantial amount, contributing to 10% of food waste in Europe. KITRO’s high quality solution has been designed to measure and monitor food waste in professional kitchens with no additional effort in the day-to-day kitchen routines. The solution tracks and records all discarded items, using artificial intelligence to identify and quantify each ingredient. This helps executive chefs and managers to pinpoint waste issues and take targeted actions to reduce food waste and save costs. This combines improvements in sustainability with financial benefit in a very effective way. Additionally, KITRO’s solution delivers precise and reliable metrics for sustainability reporting, a practice that is increasingly adopted and, in some cases, already mandated by larger hotel groups.

"Food waste is a pressing global challenge, and we are committed to making an impactful change. We are thrilled to have the support of Zintinus and Pymwymic as we continue to grow and make a significant impact on food waste reduction," said Anastasia Hofmann and Naomi MacKenzie, both Co-Founder and Co-CEO of KITRO.

Zintinus, known for its commitment to investing in innovative food tech solutions, sees great potential in KITRO's approach. "KITRO has developed a superior solution for food waste reduction, which enjoys great response from the hospitality industry. We are thrilled to support KITRO on their way to make their solutions accessible to as many businesses as possible in the hospitality sector to improve their sustainability profile and business success," said Olaf Koch, Partner at Zintinus.

Pymwymic, with its focus on impact investing ‘from farm to fork’, is equally enthusiastic about the partnership. "We believe KITRO's data-driven approach to simplify food waste monitoring has led to a state-of-the-art solution which addresses a critical issue in the food industry. We are excited to support their growth and impact," said Monique Meulemans, Partner at Pymwymic.

(Press release / SK)