September 25, 2024

By Gerelyn Terzo, Global AgInvesting Media

Australian agtech and food-tech venture capital firm Mandalay Venture Partners is extending its winning streak with artificial intelligence (AI) across the food value chain. Representing its maiden downstream investment in the agri-food tech sector, Mandalay Venture Partners is backing Restoke.ai, an AI-powered management platform whose software solution helps restaurants reduce food waste. Mandalay’s investment comes on the heels of its recent backing of Cropify, a startup using AI image recognition and machine learning to grade grains along the supply chain.

In a round led by early-stage VC firm Rampersand, Restoke.ai raised a combined A$5.1 million (US$3.5 million). The fundraising also extended to Archangels, BC Growth and Stage2 Capital, among others.

Mandalay Venture Partners issued the following statement: “By leveraging data from costing, inventory, sales and more, Restoke enables restaurant owners and operators to make informed decisions to optimize menus, ordering, food prep and pricing. There’s lots to be excited about in the agri-food tech sector, and restaurant plus hospitality tech is one of them.”

Rampersand VC Founder Andrew Poesaste said in a LinkedIn post, “AI has unlocked vertical software-as-a-service (SaaS) 2.0 — not just data collection and automating but continuously optimizing. We at Rampersand are excited to lead Restoke.ai’s A$5.1 million seed round to back Assaf Stizki & Ken Brand, who have built an incredible team and culture to revolutionize how restaurants are run globally…We are excited to be joined in this round by Mandalay Venture Partners, Archangel Ventures, US-based VCs BC Growth Equity and Stage 2 Capital, and a stellar group of angel investors.”

Since its founding in 2020, Melbourne, Victoria-based Restoke.ai has been expanding its footprint internationally and will reportedly direct the proceeds from the round toward growing its presence in the U.S market. Its platform harnesses AI technology to connect directly with restaurant systems to automate processes such as food costs, inventory, forecasting, etc., reducing the need for spreadsheets while buoying food cost savings and reducing food waste. The company’s roster of 2,000 clients across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and the U.S. can view their data analytics in real time.

Mandalay partner Timothy Hui is cited by Business News Australia as saying, “The sector has been hit hard by the pandemic, rising interest rates and inflation. The Restoke technology helps to rebalance the equation, supporting restaurant owners to better manage their costs while having significantly smarter processes when it comes to managing food waste and stock control.”

With the global population set to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, food demand is expected to skyrocket anywhere from 70 percent to 100 percent by then, thrusting food security into the spotlight. Worth $9 trillion, the global food supply chain is ripe for technological disruption. According to Recycle Track Systems (RTS), approximately 2.5 billion tons of food are wasted each year globally. Meanwhile, close to 35 million Americans alone face food insecurity, 10 million of whom are children.

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