The Business of Food for Startup Too Good to Go Is Less Waste and $31 Million in Funding

By Elijah Labby | Sunday, 17 January 2021 | Startup, Finance, Food & Beverage

Every year in America, more than 100 billion pounds of food goes to waste. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates that this waste constitutes about 30-40% of the total food supply. So, what to do about this?

Copenhagen, Denmark-based startup Too Good to Go believes the answer is to buy food just before it is disposed of, and they’ve raised $31 million in a round of funding led by venture capital firm blisce/ to do just that.

The startup partners with hundreds of business owners and tens of thousands of users through its app, helping to curb food waste across the world.

CEO and Danish entrepreneur Mette Lykke said the investment would enable the startup to continue its mission of sustainability.

“Global food waste is a challenge that requires many solutions. As a company we will continue to rise to this complicated challenge and make a positive impact on the issue in 2021,” he said. “We will be using this investment to support the rapid growth of our US operation and will continue to work with our partners across Europe, where we’re saving tens of thousands of meals through our app every day.”

Before becoming the business’s chief executive at Too Good to Go, Lykke founded a fitness app called Endomondo that was ultimately acquired by sports giant Under Armour, so her entrepreneurial work is often focused on increasing quality of life.

And while the company has taken a hit in revenue due to the pandemic, things are beginning to turn around for the business. In an interview with TechCrunch, Lykke said that the company has taken care to create partnerships with other companies despite this setback and has often forgone its commission to continue allowing customers to access this food.

The startup is still relatively small, but this new funding shows that venture capitalists see the business as a potential future success. This is not only because of its essential mission but also because of a governmental environment that is in step with Too Good to Go’s mission.

In late December, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Food and Drug Administration, and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced their collective recommitment to these causes through a document titled the Formal Agreement Among EPA, FDA, and USDA Relative to Cooperation and Coordination on Food Loss and Waste.

The document details the interagency commitment to “strategically align each agency's efforts to better educate Americans on the impacts of reducing food loss and waste,” as well as “seek to educate actors throughout the supply chain on best practices to reduce food loss and waste.”

This effort, combined with the mission of Too Good to Go and its recent funding, has the potential to strengthen the effectiveness of anti-waste business across America, and Too Good to Go could play a crucial part in it.

About the Author

Elijah Labby

Elijah Labby is a graduate of the National Journalism Center. He has previously written for Broadband Breakfast, a technology and internet policy website.