Just Eat thinks these are the five food tech stars of the future

Just Eat has revealed the five food technology start-ups that will join its new 12-week seed accelerator programme, with each selected for their potential to transform the food industry from “farm to fork to bin”.

Starting on 18 April, the participants will each receive a £20,000 investment in return for a 5% stake in their business, alongside a comprehensive programme of mentoring, training and networking to boost them onto the next stage of development.

Just Eat says the companies “showcase the extraordinary potential for the sector to grow creatively, profitably and sustainably, for the benefit of consumers, restaurants and food vendors, and the wider community”.

The five food tech start-ups participating in the programme are:

• Buzzer – a platform that enables restaurants to harness customer feedback and drive operational change
• Nourish’d – helps companies subsidise the cost of healthy, nutritionally balanced meals for their staff
• MyBaker – a company aiming to capitalise on the booming bakery trend by helping independent and home bakers share their craft with customers
• Qincho – a collaborative, research-driven centre on a mission to scale the impact of new food and agricultural sustainability technologies
• Sure – a Facebook Messenger chatbot that curates the most Instagrammed food and drink spots around the user and provides personalised recommendations using machine learning and artificial intelligence

Stuart Mainwaring, head of ventures at Just Eat, said:

“Just Eat’s mission is to create the world’s leading food community. Our accelerator and seed programmes play a critical role in our efforts to develop a thriving food tech ecosystem in the UK, as we make investments in innovation and big ideas that will help drive forward this fast-growing sector in a sustainable way.

“Much like our successful first programme, the next 12 weeks will involve an intensive schedule full of challenges and opportunities to help these five fabulous start-ups learn and grow. They have each shown outstanding attributes – and huge potential – to stand out from a large crowd of applicants, so we’re excited to see how they continue to develop on our programme.”