Meet HomeCooks, the UK’s first marketplace for independent food creators, which has recently secured an impressive $3.1 million in a Seed round to propel its expansion across the nation.
The funding round, led by Speedinvest and featuring notable participants like DFF, Love Ventures, and Just Eat Founder Lauren Groenendijk, highlights the confidence in HomeCooks’ potential. The London-based company is also inviting its community of food creators to join the investment drive through the crowdfunding platform Seedrs, creating a unique opportunity for those on the frontline of culinary innovation to become stakeholders in the business.
Beyond Connectivity: The Etsy of Food
HomeCooks stands out as more than just a connection between chefs and consumers. Unlike traditional models, HomeCooks takes charge of the entire process, from collecting and freezing to storing and dispatching the meals prepared by independent food creators. The platform currently boasts a diverse selection of over 200 home-cooked meals, each priced more affordably than mainstream food delivery options and offering a healthier alternative to ready-made meals.
Founder Joshua Magidson envisions a transformation in the hospitality industry, particularly in food delivery, describing it as a “Victorian industry” plagued by low-paid labor and razor-thin profit margins. HomeCooks provides a solution by allowing chefs to focus solely on cooking pre-prepared meals in bulk, minimizing overhead costs. For chefs, it’s not just about profit; it’s about flexibility and efficiency as HomeCooks takes care of the logistics – picking up, freezing, storing, and dispatching the meals on their behalf.
From Grassroots to Growth
Joshua Magidson’s journey in the food tech industry, marked by the acquisition of Eatstudent and the founding of Zing Zing, led him to question the sustainability of the food delivery model. HomeCooks started as a grassroots movement on Facebook during the lockdown in 2020, supporting hundreds of furloughed chefs. Since then, the platform has evolved, now offering more than 200 meals and serving over 60,000 meals to 7,000 customers in the last year alone.
Funds from this recent round will catapult HomeCooks into a new phase of growth, aiming to support over 1000 food creators on its platform. The company has already witnessed a remarkable 600% growth compared to the previous year, with a 70% month-on-month increase from August to October. Mathias Ockenfels, General Partner at Speedinvest, recognizes HomeCooks as more than just a marketplace, stating, “We believe in HomeCooks’ potential to transform how people eat at home and are excited to be part of their journey.”
HomeCooks, with its mission to “change the way people eat forever,” seems poised to disrupt the food industry, offering a lifeline to independent food creators and a revolutionary dining experience for consumers across the UK.