Paris-based Kikleo has secured new funding to expand its food waste reduction technology in restaurants across France and abroad.
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Paris-based Kikleo, a foodtech company on a mission to reduce food waste in the restaurant industry, has secured €3.5M in funding to strengthen its work across France and abroad.
The round was led by Newfund, with participation from Bpifrance, existing shareholders, and support from Avelana throughout the process.
In 2023, Kikleo received backing from Avelana, Good Only Ventures, and Jean Dussaix to test the model’s scalability in France. The new round will support Kikleo’s growth in Europe and the United States.
Reducing food waste in the restaurant industry
Founded in 2019 by Martin d’Agay and Vincent Garcia, joined in 2023 by Jean Dussaix (20 years of experience in catering), Kikleo was built on the belief that lowering food loss in restaurants can drive growth toward sustainable food practices.
The company uses artificial intelligence to turn data into operational actions in kitchens, aiming to reduce time spent on repetitive tasks and allow teams to focus on meal quality and guest satisfaction.
Through 5 million scanned trays, Kikleo’s system measures and tracks waste to help restaurants act on insights.
In a statement translated from French, co-founder Vincent Garcia says, “This amount of data is unique in France and provides a detailed and unprecedented understanding of food waste by diner age, restaurant type, region, and season.”
“We have developed an algorithm that is continuously improving, making the analyses ever more reliable, precise, and actionable. We are therefore proud to collaborate with ADEME’s work by enriching national knowledge on food waste.”
Capital utilisation
The funds will be used to expand Kikleo’s operations in France, Europe, and the United States. The company will invest in the development of its AI platform to improve data processing and operational efficiency in kitchens.
A portion of the funds will also be allocated to increase the size of its field teams to support restaurant partners in implementing and managing the solution.
In a LinkedIn post translated from French, Vincent Garcia, co-founder at Kikleo, says, “We now have the ambition to multiply our impact, and to do so, we must aim big and far. It is with this in mind that we met Marjolaine Catil. We were immediately convinced that Newfund is the right partner to accelerate our development in France, Europe and the United States.”
“We have come a long way, but there is still so much to do in a sector that is at the centre of our lives. The transition will take place collectively, and we will need all of our partners to achieve this. Thank you to NewFund and our historical shareholders for their trust. We look forward to writing this new page in the adventure together.”
Marjolaine Catil, Investment Director at Newfund, adds, “AI takes on its full meaning when it connects to reality and transforms concrete challenges. Kikleo is the perfect example: a technology that disrupts a traditional sector like catering, bringing immediate gains to teams while transforming raw waste data into a strategic asset.”
“After proving the relevance and scalability of their model in France, we are proud to support them in their transition to international scale, an expansion guided by the same on-the-ground approach, working closely with local stakeholders.”
Food waste: A growing economic and environmental issue
Food waste has major environmental, financial, and social impacts. It accounts for nearly 10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and costs the restaurant industry around €132B each year. At the same time, each European citizen discards an average of 132 kilograms of food annually, while millions struggle to afford daily meals.
To address this, the European Union has introduced regulations requiring restaurants to cut food waste by 30 per cent by 2030, aligning with France’s target of a 50 per cent reduction.
Kikleo offers a data-driven approach to meet these targets. Its system combines cameras with patented AI to automatically measure waste from both food preparation and uneaten meals. The collected data is analysed on a digital platform that tracks financial losses, calculates environmental impact, identifies causes of waste, and recommends actions for improvement.
Kikleo’s teams work with restaurant partners over time to support the implementation of these measures and ensure lasting progress.
According to the company, this approach delivers measurable outcomes. On average, restaurants reduce food waste by 20 per cent within the first year, with reductions reaching up to 65 per cent over time. These improvements result in annual savings of up to €50,000 per site.
Between 2022 and 2024, Kikleo helped prevent 240 tons of food from being discarded, equal to 400,000 meals. This reduction generated €2M in savings for restaurants, avoided 1,000 tons of CO2 emissions, and conserved 800 million litres of water that would have been used to produce wasted food.
Brief about Newfund
Newfund is a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage companies developing new solutions across various sectors, with a focus on those pursuing international growth. The fund participates in seed rounds to support the first phase of global expansion and continues to invest in later stages to help founders build over time.
Founded in 2008 by François Véron and Patrick Malka, Newfund operates from Paris, Silicon Valley, and Nouvelle-Aquitaine with a 25-member team. It manages €400M in assets and has invested in more than 120 companies. The fund is backed by a broad network of entrepreneurs and family offices in France.
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