Ganiga has raised €1.5 million in equity, with the funding set to support hiring and industrialisation of its food-waste technology. The Italian startup says its tools use artificial intelligence and robotics to help reduce food waste. Including support from Smart&Start Italia, its total resources reach €2.5 million.
How did the funding come together?
Vivenda led the equity round, according to the source report. The collective catering operator serves over 50 million meals a year and has invested alongside Ganiga’s plans to expand in that market. NextSTEP and three business angels also participated in the round.
The €1.5 million is equity funding, meaning investors provide capital in exchange for a stake in the company. Smart&Start Italia is a separate incentive managed by Invitalia, and the source says Ganiga obtained €1 million through it. The report combines that support with the equity round in stating that total resources amount to €2.5 million.
What was Ganiga doing before this round?
Ganiga began in Pisa province, drawing on Nicolas Zeoli’s experience developing software for industrial robotics. The company built robots that recognise and sort waste to automate recycling. It has sold over 300 devices for use in airports, shopping centres and large companies across Italy, Japan, Australia and other European countries.
Data gathered through that work helped the company develop artificial intelligence algorithms that it now applies to food waste. HooolyFood grew from this experience and, according to the report, was developed in less than a year. The system is already operating on over 30,000 meals a day, giving the startup an existing deployment to build on as it seeks to industrialise the product.
How does HooolyFood identify discarded food?
A camera placed above waste containers allows HooolyFood to recognise discarded food without weighing it. The system records what food is wasted, which dish it came from and why it was discarded. Those records are intended to give catering operators practical information for planning purchases, menus and service organisation.
Ganiga is also developing a proprietary data platform, which the funding will help industrialise alongside HooolyFood. The company’s stated approach centres on measuring waste first so operators can identify inefficiencies and make better-informed decisions. The source describes the product as already operating in canteens, while the new funding is intended to move the technology towards industrial scale.
What will the funding support next?
Ganiga plans to strengthen both its technical and commercial teams, industrialise HooolyFood and its data platform, and accelerate recurring revenue growth. Its first target market is collective catering, where the company intends to grow alongside Vivenda. The source says it may then extend the technology to catering, hotels and other settings.
The report presents the round as an opportunity to expand an existing product and its commercial reach. It does not disclose a timetable for hiring, industrialisation or entry into the later markets. Nor does it say how much of the round is allocated to each planned activity.
For founders and investors, the disclosed facts show an equity round alongside a separate public incentive. They also show a product already deployed at a stated daily meal volume. The next steps to watch are whether Ganiga scales HooolyFood, expands its platform and reports progress in recurring revenue.