Meridiam invests in Popchef, a leading impact driven foodtech platform

Meridiam was the lead investor in Popchef’s €15 million latest fundraising round, a French eco-responsible, digital and sustainable foodtech company that installs and operates connected refrigerators and counters in offices. Thanks to the connectivity of its offer and optimized logistics, Popchef offers a zero waste catering model through a returnable container service and redistributes unsold food to charities.

Each of the recipes are developed by a chef throughout the year according to the seasonality, freshness and availability of the products. Popchef relies on high quality food with selected seasonal and local ingredients. The meals offered daily by Popchef are fresh, of high quality, prepared by a chef, and sold from 5 euros.

Their solution is flexible and offers several options: connected fridges, on-site counters (salad bar/sandwich/poke, coffee…), snacking (fruit, drinks…) and delivery to the office or to people working from home. They also have a strong plateaux-repas business line, with their own brand and the exclusive the Lenôtre license.

Their connected fridges are easy to install (2m² and plug & play) and the onboarding into the logistics chain is straightforward. Among their main clients are: the unicorns Payfit and Blablacar, Aldi, Vinci, l’Oréal, as well as several hundred companies representing our economy: start-ups, SMEs, and large groups. This diversity of customers already ensures that the Popchef solution has a significant impact that continues to grow.

According to Eric Rey, Head of Meridiam GIGF, “Popchef, a fast-growing French leader in foodtech, is the third investment of Meridiam’s Green Impact Growth Fund. Popchef is a response adapted to the recent challenges of work flexibility and well-being in the office. But also a solution that improves the lunch experience at work, while building on a strong ESG and impact platform within the food industry.”

“We launched Popchef with a mission to democratize access to healthy, quality meals. Connected fridges and counters now allow companies of all sizes to offer the service of a true corporate restaurant to their teams. With Popchef, Meridiam wants to build a new model of ethical and sustainable corporate catering”, François de Fitte, Co-founder of Popchef.

Popchef’s activity contributes to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and mainly to goal #12 – Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns – notably by:

• Reducing the production of waste, both in terms of food and packaging
• Encouraging businesses and individuals to adopt sustainable practices
• Using natural resources in a more sustainable way (strict requirements for food purchasing)

Popchef also makes a concrete contribution to SDGs 3,8 and 11, by:

• Offering healthier and more accessible food options
• Integrating talents from social integration programs into its teams every year
• Helping to improve the living conditions of farmers
• Implementing a clean and efficient supply chain and deliveries

> Learn more about this project