Saltz raises 20 million euros

The FoodTech startup Saltz has closed a Series A financing round of 20 million euros. The startup is developing a digital marketplace that connects restaurants directly with food producers and suppliers.

The startup intends to use the fresh capital to accelerate its expansion in Europe, further develop its technological platform and expand its team by more than 100 employees by the end of 2026. The aim is to organize the international food trade for restaurants digitally and efficiently.

Platform connects chefs and suppliers in 20 countries

Saltz offers a central platform that chefs and verified suppliers can use to trade with each other. The solution bundles product catalogs, payment processing and logistics in a single user interface, enabling cross-border orders within Europe.

According to the company, restaurants often continue to rely on multiple distributors, while orders are handled through manual processes. At the same time, many suppliers have difficulties reaching new customers or offering additional services such as financing or logistics.

Saltz wants to replace this fragmentation with a transparent digital marketplace.

Investors focus on the digitalization of food supply chains

Several international investors participated in the financing round, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Inovo, Lifeline Ventures and Change Ventures.

In addition, several well-known founders and angel investors invested, including Mantas Mikuckas, co-founder of Vinted, and Miki Kuusi, founder of the delivery service Wolt. Executives from the e-commerce company Shopify also participated in the round.

Experience from e-commerce

The founding team has extensive experience in building digital marketplaces. Several team members previously worked on global commerce platforms at Oberlo and Shopify.

When we looked at food distribution, we were surprised at how little infrastructure there is for direct cross-border transactions.

Andrius Slimas, co-founder of Saltz

Co-founder Andrius Slimas explains that when the team looked at the food distribution market, they were surprised at how much it is still characterized by manual processes. Middlemen, unclear price structures and time-consuming ordering processes often lead to inefficient supply chains and lower margins for restaurants.

Saltz therefore wants to create an infrastructure through which professional kitchens and producers can trade directly with each other across Europe.

Expansion and strong team growth planned

With the new funding, the start-up plans to expand its activities into other European markets, bring additional suppliers onto the platform and expand the team, particularly in the areas of engineering, product development, sales and operations.

Saltz's long-term goal is to build a central infrastructure for the international food trade in the catering sector and to make purchasing for restaurants much more transparent and efficient.