Ganiga raises €1.5 million to scale AI food-waste tool for kitchens
What's the deal? Italian deeptech startup GanigaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has raised €1.5 million in an early VC round to expand its AI-powered food waste technology. Italian contract catering company Vivenda led the round, with participation from London-based NextSTEP and three angel investors. Together with €1 million from Smart&Start ItaliaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, an incentive programme run by InvitaliaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, total funding reaches €2.5 million.
What's the endgame? Founded in the province of Pisa by Nicolas Zeoli, Ganiga combines artificial intelligence, computer vision and robotics to cut waste. It started with robotic sorting devices — selling more than 300 across airports, shopping centres and large businesses in Italy, Japan, Australia and other countries.
Building on that data, the company launched HooolyFood, which uses cameras above waste containers to identify discarded food without weighing. The system is already deployed in operations serving more than 30,000 meals daily.
Why now? The raise lands as the EU introduces binding targets to cut food waste by 2030, including a 30% per-capita reduction across retail, food service and households. The bloc generated roughly 58 million tonnes of food waste in 2023, according to Eurostat.
"The new EU directive makes food waste reduction a binding target, and you cannot reduce what you do not measure," said Zeoli, founder and chief executive officer. The money will fund team growth, further development of HooolyFood and its data platform, and higher recurring revenue.
What could go wrong? The market is competitive. Dutch rival Orbisk raised more than €8 million in a 2024 Series A and says its AI monitoring runs in over 1,000 kitchens, while Winnow acquired Singapore-founded LumiticsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → in 2026 to expand in Asia-Pacific.
The signal: Ganiga's round is modest but timely, placing in the 37th percentile by size. Its significance will hinge on evidence of adoption and measurable waste cuts — not the AI label alone.
Read more: Tech.eu
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
