Foodforecast, a Cologne-based AI FoodTech company focused on demand and production forecasting for ultra-fresh food categories, has secured €8 million in Series A funding to accelerate international expansion and enterprise adoption.
The round was co-led by SHIFT Invest and ECBF, with participation from existing investors Future Food Fund and Aeronaut Invest. The investment will support market expansion across Europe and further development of its AI forecasting platform for time-sensitive food supply chains.
What The Company Does
Founded in 2018 by Justus Lauten and Jan Brormann, Foodforecast develops AI-driven forecasting technology designed to optimise demand planning and production processes for ultra-fresh food products, which often have shelf lives ranging from a few hours to a single day. The platform enables food service providers, bakeries, and retailers to align production volumes more accurately with real-time demand patterns.
Its software integrates directly into existing operational workflows, automating ordering and production planning without requiring major process changes. By improving forecast accuracy, the system helps businesses reduce overproduction, enhance product availability, and streamline operational decision-making in highly perishable product categories.
According to the company, automated forecasting and production optimisation can reduce food waste by up to 30 percent, increase sales by up to 11 percent, and automate more than 90 percent of previously manual planning processes.
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Market Context / Industry Background
Food waste remains a major structural challenge across European food supply chains, particularly in ultra-fresh categories where inaccurate demand forecasting can result in significant daily losses. Estimates suggest that tens of thousands of tons of fresh food are wasted each day across Europe due to inefficient planning and inventory management.
As sustainability targets and cost pressures intensify, food producers and retailers are increasingly investing in digital tools that improve supply chain precision while reducing environmental impact. AI-based forecasting systems are gaining traction as they allow businesses to make data-driven production decisions in fast-moving and time-sensitive categories.
The shift toward automated and predictive planning is especially relevant for large-scale retail, food service operators, and bakery chains, where small forecasting errors can scale into substantial waste and operational inefficiencies.
Founder / Investor Commentary
Founder and CEO Justus Lauten described the Series A as a key step toward rethinking how ultra-fresh food is planned and produced, emphasizing the company’s ambition to set new benchmarks for efficiency and sustainability through AI-driven forecasting.
Investors highlighted the dual economic and environmental value of the platform. ECBF Partner Isabelle Laurencin noted that sustainability is embedded within the company’s core value proposition, pointing out that improved forecasting accuracy can simultaneously reduce emissions, optimise resource use, and generate measurable operational benefits for food businesses.
Growth Plans / Use Of Funds
The newly raised capital will be used to expand Foodforecast’s presence across additional European markets and increase adoption among both SMEs and enterprise customers in food service, retail, and bakery sectors. The company also plans to continue enhancing its AI models and product capabilities to support more complex forecasting scenarios and larger operational networks.
Commercially launched in 2022, the platform is already deployed in several thousand stores across Europe and used by operators including SSP Germany and Eat Happy. To date, clients using the system have collectively prevented more than 8,800 tons of food waste through improved planning accuracy and automated production optimisation.
In addition to private investment, the initiative is supported by the European Union through the InvestEU Fund, reinforcing its alignment with broader sustainability and resource-efficiency objectives.
About Foodforecast
Foodforecast is a Cologne-based AI FoodTech company developing demand and production forecasting solutions for ultra-fresh food supply chains. Founded in 2018. The company’s mission is to improve efficiency and sustainability in the food industry by providing precise AI-driven forecasts that reduce waste, optimise production, and automate planning processes for retailers, bakeries, and food service operators.
