An investment showcase bringing you the newest offering from the sector
Investment: Mimica via the Syndicate Room platform
Aim: Syndicate Room offers investors the chance to invest in early stage companies
Tell us about the investment Mimica is the creator of hi-tech food labels that tell you exactly when your food spoils.
Reducing food waste is a pressing concern all around the world. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, around $1 trillion worth of food is wasted annually. The UK government estimates around £16 billion of that waste occurs in the UK alone.
The main reason food gets thrown out early is that producers typically set overcautious expiry dates to cover for possible poor conditions in the supply chain or in the home, rather than setting dates based on expected temperature conditions. This ‘safety buffer’ can cut seven days or more from the expiry date, meaning that in most cases food is still fit to eat when it is thrown out.
If consumers were able to know with certainty, in real time, whether their food was still fresh, producers could reduce their buffer and extend expiry dates. This would not only avoid much unnecessary waste in the home, but also reduce waste and increase sales at the retail level and all along the supply chain.
Every business raising funding on SyndicateRoom must have at least 40% of its target amount already invested (this is termed ‘lead investment’) and have a named lead investor.
Mimica’s lead investor is R/GA Ventures, which is investing £75,000 in this round.
R/GA Ventures helps industry leaders embrace disruption, connecting them with emerging startups, technologies and consumer behaviours to drive their businesses forward. The firm builds its programmes around strategic themes – Internet of Things, commerce and retail, marketing tech, sports and entertainment, tech, media tech and more – and assembles cohorts to support them.
“Mimica can tackle large inefficiencies in the food supply chain with a low-cost product based on real innovation. Additionally, there will be emerging value in collected data, and adjacent non-food markets,” says R/GA Ventures.
“The company’s leadership has put together the right team to form strategic partnerships and achieve scale, while building a protectable consumer-facing brand. The technology is now in production scaleup development with their industry partners. Early trials indicate positive results.
“Mimica is in partnership with Arla, the seventh biggest global dairy business, to bring the product to market. Arla have put time and money into consumer testing and are planning commercial-scale pilots later in the year.”
How much is being raised?
Mimica Lab is currently running a soft-close round on SyndicateRoom. This means that there is no set minimum target amount that the round has to hit in order to close, and any funds invested in the round will transact up to the board’s cap on the round of £815,000.
What is the minimum investment?
The minimum amount that can be invested into any SyndicateRoom round is £1,000.
