Finnish restaurant leftover marketplace ResQ Club – which launched less than 4 months ago – said on Wednesday it raised around 400,000 euros seed round from a group of investors as it opened its service in three large Swedish towns.
Investment firm Cleantech Invest, one of the investors, indicated the deal valued ResQ at 2.4 million euros.
The other investors included former chief purchasing officer of Tesla Motors Peter Carlsson, the founder of the Itrim service promoting healthier lifestyles Martin Anderlind and four Finnish institutions: funds of HYY Yhtymä and Prodeko Ventures, in addition to Tekes and Finnvera.
The other investors included former chief purchasing officer of Tesla Motors Peter Carlsson, the founder of the Itrim service promoting healthier lifestyles Martin Anderlind and four Finnish institutions: two funds owned by Finnish student organizations, HYY Yhtymä and Prodeko Ventures, and Tekes and Finnvera.
ResQ Club has over 17,000 registered users in Finland and Brussels, and over 150 active provider partners. The ResQ service enables consumers to purchase surplus food portions from restaurants and cafés. The prices of ‘resQd’ portions are typically at a 40-70 percent discount. The service enables restaurants to gain additional revenue from otherwise wasted food, attract new customers, and be forerunners in the fight against food waste.
ResQ Club has over 17,000 registered users in Finland and Brussels, and over 150 active provider partners. The ResQ service enables consumers to purchase surplus food portions from restaurants and cafés. The prices of ‘resQd’ portions are typically at a 40-70 percent discount. The service enables restaurants to gain additional revenue from otherwise wasted food, attract new customers, and be forerunners in the fight against food waste.
Cleantech subscribed new shares in ResQ, representing 6.5 percent of all shares after the investment and said it has entered into a share exchange agreement with two of ResQ’s current shareholders, to further increase its shareholding in the company by approximately 2.2 percent.
ResQ was is in the centre of Finnish Lunchgate scandal, with rival Lunchie saying ResQ stole their idea of selling unsold food from restaurants. ResQ and Lunchie are on the market two years after international pioneers like American PareUp or French OptiMiam, which raised 500,000 euros earlier this year, launched their first services.
Editor’s note: Releads with ResQ statement.
