London-based Cerve, a provider of infrastructure and API solutions for a digitised global food system, has closed a £3.5 million seed funding round.
The round was led by SuperSeed with participation from Zenith, Ponderosa and The First Thirty.
Cerve’s mission is to accelerate the digitisation of the global food supply chain via its API tools, delivering a standardised protocol.
Cerve says its technology allows organisations to build new and innovative custom applications and automations, driving profitability, commercial growth, reduced food waste and enhanced food security.
The global food system remains heavily reliant on manual data-sharing methods such as email, phone, spreadsheets and PDFs, leaving organisations struggling with inefficiency, limited visibility and a lack of actionable insights.
These outdated practices result in billions of dollars in lost opportunities while exacerbating critical global challenges like food waste and food security.
Today, over 2,000 organisations across the UK and Europe are utilising the Cerve infrastructure, including retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers and producers.
Cerve was founded by Dan Mazig, a serial entrepreneur with deep expertise in leading data infrastructure and B2B solutions for Fortune 500 companies and early-stage startups. Joining him is David Walker, chief commercial officer, who brings extensive senior leadership experience from Barclays, Dyson and Sky.
”Solving the fragmented and disconnected problems within the food system requires new thinking and a more creative and innovative approach,” said CEO Mazig.
“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. Our approach provides the foundation for developers, rule-breakers and innovators to help solve the most impactful problems of food waste and food security.
“We are building a world-class team to solve the most interesting and challenging problems in the food industry that affect every person on the planet.”
With the new funding, Cerve plans to accelerate its commercial expansion across the UK, Europe and North America.
Ferdinand Reynolds, principal at SuperSeed, added: “We were immediately impressed by the team’s understanding of the complex web that makes up the global food supply chain.
“Dan and David had clearly spent a long time working backwards from the problems to arrive at a very sophisticated, elegant solution. Their approach to data standardisation and connectivity is groundbreaking and has the potential to reshape how the global food system operates.
“We are enormously excited to partner with Cerve as they continue to transform this industry.”
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