A food supply chain technology start-up which aims to drive reductions in waste has landed millions of pounds in funding from a syndicate of investors.
Sky News understands that Cerve, which was effectively founded earlier this year, has secured £3.5m in a round led by business-to-business software specialist SuperSeed.
Venture capital investors Zenith, Ponderosa and The First Thirty also participated.
Cerve was set up to help digitise aspects of a global food supply chain system which remains largely manually administered.
Used by 2,000 customers across the UK and Europe, the company provides a tech platform which enables data to address supply chain inefficiencies.
According to Cerve, outdated practices which remain prevalent in the industry result in billions of dollars-worth of lost opportunities, while also exacerbating critical global challenges like food waste and food security.
It cited research suggesting that more than one-third of all food produced globally goes to waste, partly as a consequence of inadequate visibility and traceability across supply chains.
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Founded by Dan Mazig, a serial entrepreneur, the company is expected to announce its seed round publicly this week.
“Solving the fragmented and disconnected problems within the food system requires new thinking and a more creative and innovative approach,” Mr Mazing said.
“Current progress is simply not fast or effective enough.
“We believe that the key to a sustainable and resilient food system is rooted in data.”
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Ferdinand Reynolds, principal at SuperSeed, said Cerve’s “approach to data standardisation and connectivity is groundbreaking and has the potential to reshape how the global food system operates”.
