The Lincoln technology start-up raised the capital through Minerva Business Angels and Innovate UK.
"After seeing Tended pitch a couple of times at Minerva events, one of Blackfinch Ventures directors expressed an interest in investing. Initially, I thought it was just him acting as an individual Angel, so when I heard the investment was to be through Blackfinch and they were interested in investing £810k, it came as quite a shock! It also came at just the right time as we had a number of very exciting opportunities opening up, which required a much larger cash injection than previously anticipated."
The investment was led by Nauta Capital with participation from Mercia.
"We are pleased to be able to advise Mercia on this further funding round after their initial investment. We have a longstanding working relationship with Mercia and over that time we have seen first-hand their ability to pick companies with good potential for scale-up, and BlackCurve’s success demonstrates that ability to spot prospects with real promise."
The seed round was led by Ocado with participation from Hoxton Ventures, firstminute capital and Taylor Brothers.
"At Karakuri, we are dedicated to providing smart new ways to create and prepare fresh personalised meals. Consumer eating habits in and out of the home are changing rapidly as demand increases for healthier options that match specific dietary requirements. This growth in menu personalisation is putting huge pressure on restaurants, cafes and other food retailers. These providers have historically relied on identically mass produced meals to maintain their profit margins. By using robotics and machine learning, Karakuri’s systems provide localised micro-manufacturing within an existing restaurant, retail or commercial kitchen. Our systems prepare personalised meals onsite in real time to the exact requirements of each customer. At the same time, our technology aims to minimise food waste, packaging and distribution costs and all of the associated environmental impact."
AfricInvest led the Series A round with participation from Endeavor Catalyst to support platform development.
"Through our own cutting-edge research, we have developed a platform that goes beyond what we have seen in AI applications in the past. It can tackle challenging optimisation and automation challenges in dynamic and complex environments such as, but not limited to, mobility, logistics, manufacturing and energy. We already see that our product is providing real value and ROI for our clients"
