Antwerpen – Fortino Capital Partners and LRM invest in FoodDESK, a data and software company focused on allergen and food safety management. This new funding round will help the company to support growth in Belgium and generate international traction.
FoodDESK, founded in 2015, helps hospitals, nursery homes, restaurants, butchers and bakeries comply with food regulations (notably allergens, HACCP). FoodDESK helps its customers to digitalize these mandatory processes, while giving them access to its unique, and proprietary enriched food and allergen database, which is the cornerstone of its value proposition to help its customers providing safe and healthy food to their end-consumers.
Strict food regulation and increased demand for more transparency drive the need for solutions like FoodDESK to manage allergen and food safety, as the amount of people with food allergies are soaring. Not providing the right information can have dramatic consequences to those end consumers. Many companies still use inefficient methods such as Excel and papers to manage their food safety processes. The solution of FoodDESK allows customers to comply and become more efficient in managing food safety, while also providing them with access to a unique, comprehensive and enriched food-, nutrients- and allergen database. While there are several food databases available in the market, FoodDESK’s unique approach, with its team of dieticians combined with artificial intelligence, provides access to an enriched and always up-to-date food database, where mistakes in technical input files from food suppliers are corrected and missing information is completed.
Today, FoodDESK is active in Belgium and the Netherlands, already deploying its solution in more than 750 organizations, such as AZ Sint Jan, Imelda Ziekenhuis, UZ Leuven (?), LSG Sky Chefs, ISS Catering Services. With the support of Fortino Capital and LRM, FoodDESK will focus on building out its position in Benelux, while also setting its first steps elsewhere in Europe.
Tammo Van Leeuwen from FoodDESK concludes: “If you know that up to 5-10% of the population is affected by a food allergy, allergen management and food safety is a challenge for many organisations. We provide our customers with the appropriate tools and to manage food safety in their organizations in the best way possible. With the support of Fortino and LRM, we will be able to grow in our core markets and start internationalization beyond Benelux”
Renaat Berckmoes at Fortino Capital, explains: “FoodDESK is solving a problem in a unique way for many stakeholders in food sector, making a tedious process more efficient, while helping to enhance food safety. We look forward working together with FoodDESK and LRM to expand to grow the company into a market leader in Western-Europe”
Kathleen Vandersmissen / Dries Evens at LRM, seconds “Last year, LRM already assisted FoodDESK financially through a loan. Now we also make capital available: “The combination of the food and allergen database and the innovative tools that FoodDESK’s customers have access to, provides all the health and food industry stakeholders with a wealth of information that is crucial,” said Katleen Vandersmissen, Head of Health & Care at LRM. “The regulations are becoming stricter and the customer or patient is demanding more and more transparency and clarity. We therefore see a lot of potential for FoodDESK in Belgium and abroad in this growing market.”
About FoodDESK:
FoodDESK is a data and software company founded in 2015 by Carl Beniest and Lambaerts Sel. FoodDESK provides data and software to comply with food regulation and they ensure end-consumer has all relevant allergen information at hand. FoodDESK has more than 750 customers located in Belgium and in The Netherlands. For more information: www.FoodDESK.be
About Fortino Capital Partners:
Fortino Capital Partners is an investment company that was founded in 2013 and is led by Duco Sickinghe, Renaat Berckmoes and Matthias Vandepitte. Fortino Capital invests in remarkable companies of today and tomorrow and actively helps companies capture opportunities. They accelerate businesses and turn ambition into growth. The company manages a venture capital fund of EUR 80 million and a digital growth fund of EUR 200 million, both with focus on software and digital transformation. Fortino Capital’s investment portfolio includes MobileXpense, Maxxton, Dobco Medical Systems, LetsBuild, Teamleader, and Bloomon among others. For more information, visit www.fortinocapital.com.
About LRM:
LRM is an investment company based in Hasselt that develops and stimulates economic growth in Limburg. They provide a solid foundation, allowing companies and projects, which create jobs in Limburg, to grow. LRM is investing in varied companies from startups to growing SME’s and larger companies. The company is mainly focused on ICT, technology, Health & Care, Smart Manufacturing and Sustainability. LRM has currently 268 companies in its portfolio. For more information: www.lrm.be
