Stockholm, Sweden-based ghost kitchen startup Curb announced this week it has raised a €20 million (~$24.4 million USD) round led by Point72 Ventures (h/t tech.eu). EQT, an existing investor, also participated in the round. Curb has now raised €23.2 million to date.
Curb is only a little over one year old, having been founded in May 2020 by ex-Delivery Hero employees Carl Tengberg and Felipe Gutierrez. The company raised an initial €3.2 million in December of last year, which went towards helping the company expand its delivery-only restaurant brands’ presence.
Curb operates what’s essentially a virtual food court, with many of the items meant to evoke street food. It’s collection of delivery-only restaurants include a Mexican-American concept, a burger restaurant, salads and bowls, and chicken wings, among other offerings. All concepts, menus, food preparation, design, and other branding elements are created in-house. Curb also operates its own tech stack. While specific details are not widely available publicly, the company has said it prioritizes data tracking and analysis to improve operations across its supply change as well as monitor customer demands and alter menu items accordingly.
The company’s operation currently serves customers in Stockholm and Copenhagen, Denmark. Customers of Curb can order via a number of third-party delivery services that differ based on availability in a given location. Orders are prepped and fulfilled in ghost kitchen locations.
Taster, headquartered in London, U.K., is probably Curb’s nearest competitor in terms of what it offers. Like Curb, Taster has its own portfolio of virtual restaurants. Order prep and fulfillment is done in house, and items are available via third-party delivery platforms. The company raised $37 million at the beginning of May. In the U.S., a company called C3 offers a similar model to both Curb and Taster, with restaurant tech company Lunchbox powering the back-end technical capabilities of its virtual food hall.
Curb, meanwhile, says it will use its new funds to further develop its tech stack and grow its overall operations.
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