Toronto-based Platterz has raised an $18 million CAD Series A led by Israel-based Aleph, with participation from existing investors Globalive Capital and AltaIR Capital.
Targeting corporate catering, the company’s on-demand platform allows offices to order lunches for meetings and events. In the crowded foodtech space, Platterz says its key differentiation is its predictive capabilities; keeping headcount in mind, the platform allows companies to receive personalized quotes and menus from local restaurants and caterers, eliminating the need for someone to manually calculate prices and personalize orders.
“Companies are spending so much time and effort trying to invest in their culture to attract and retain talent. We play a key part in this equation.”
“The approach that many companies are taking to feed their employees has a lot of room for improvement,” said Eran Henig, co-founder and CEO of Platterz. “Our clients love the experience of catering when powered by AI and predictive technology, and this is why we’ve shown such tremendous growth since our launch. Aleph’s data-driven approach to scaling businesses is the perfect strategic fit for us and we couldn’t be more excited to have them join the Platterz family.”
Platterz also announced the addition of Jonathan Zabusky, former president of GrubHub and CEO of Seamless, and Ran Makavy, EVP of growth at Lyft and former director of product management at Facebook, as advisors to its board. The company emphasized the pair’s ecommerce and marketplace experience as Platterz looks to expand in North America and replace traditional service models.
“Our passion is all about helping companies build a strong and unique corporate culture by bringing teams and employees closer together. Companies are spending so much time and effort trying to invest in their culture to attract and retain talent. We play a key part in this equation,” said Yishay Waxman, Platterz co-founder and president.
In April 2017, Platterz raised $6.7 million to double down on its automation capabilities.
At the time, the company was vocal about the stickiness of its family-style approach in a couple of ways. With a focus on local restaurants, Platterz allows smaller mom-and-pops to get the same visibility as larger chains with more budget. At the same time, the company’s philosophy is rooted in the idea of food bringing people together — especially in tech companies, where culture often means getting meals but remaining glued to your screen.
“We’re social beings. Why can’t we be that for at least one hour a day? A company should enforce that,” Henig said at the time.
Platterz said it is currently serving “thousands” of employees in Toronto and New York City, and counts Shopify, Apple, and Salesforce among its customers. In 2017, Platterz said it tripled revenues and the grew the team to over 50 employees.