Series A: gate startup Wisefood secures funding for further growth


- Plastic-free and eatable straws convince international investment grands
- Private investors from BayStartUP’s investors network finance the lap, Delivery Hero boards as new corporate investor
Capital providers from BayStartUP’s investors network make their investment in the food startup Wisefood: amongst others, former Telegate chairman Dr. Andreas Albath, Feliks Eyer, founder of Regiohelden (sold to Ströer) as well as industrial expert and former managing director of foil producer Klöckner Pentaplast, Dr. Markus Hölzl, are among the private investors. Moreover, Delivery Hero has boarded Series A as a corporate investor. With their eatable straw based on renewable resources gate startup Wisefood has developed an environmentally friendly alternative to plastic drinking straws. Wisefood will use the collected capital to expand their production and launch further sustainable products. Furthermore, the company plans to export their products to other countries.
„We have been looking for experienced angels and experts in different areas in order to complete our team and grow even faster“, Philipp Silbernagel, CEO of Wisefood explains the investors’ decisions. „Many business angels in the current lap came via BayStartUP’s investors network, some more via the personal or expanded network“, Silbernagel continues. „Last year, we could already substitute more than 50 millions of plastic straws by our eatable drinking straw ‘Superhalm’ and, in addition, other than our competitors work profitably as an enterprise. We do not only want to follow up this growth, but also further multiply it by the time of the EU plastic prohibition in 2021“, Silbernagel explains. Overall, Wisefood has available a seven-digit amount for further growth and the expansion of their product portfolio.
By the EU-wide prohibition of disposable plastic dishes which is to be effective from 2021 on, the market is facing a turnaround. „Wisefood has a convincing business idea with a sustainable product, also compared to alternatives like paper drinking straws – these hail almost exclusively from chinese production of doubtful quality“, says Dr. Andreas Albath, former CEO of telegate AG and experienced business angel. „Perspectively, Wisefood’s organization as a supplier of eatable dishes is a fascinating vision. I am convinced that the team will make it – they have already demonstrated that they can successfully master the challenges of company development.“
Dr. Markus Hölzl, too, underlines the prospects of the brand: „Wisefood has convinced me very much as a product alternative to disposable plastic dishes and, with respect to the EU plastic prohibition and the rising trend towards sustainable products, I see excellent growth opportunities as a supplier of eatable one-way products – especially internationally.”
The three Wisefood founders Philipp Sibernagel, Patricia Titz and Maximilian Lemke have adopted the Superhalm idea from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, which has originated there in its first version within the scope of a student project. Wisefood’s straws are obtained from renewable raw material. They primarily consist of cereals and apple marc – a side-product of apple juice production – and are produced in Germany. They do not emit any taste into the drink.
Besides Aldi, Wisefood is already cooperating with numerous well-known brands of the gastronomy and hotel sector, as e.g. IBIS, Mercure and NOVOTEL of the Accor Group.
About Wisefood
Wisefood, located at the business incubator gate Garching near Munich, stands for eatable single-use dishes based based on renewable raw material. The company launches meaningful alternatives to plastic dishes. Their best-known product is the „Superhalm“ – an eatable drinking straw based on cereals and apple marc. With the Superhalm, Wisefood serves the rising trend to sustainable products and has a share in environment protection by offering an alternative to plastic drinking straws.
About BayStartUP
BayStartUP is the Bavarian startup network for founders, investors and enterprises. By means of the Bavarian businessplan competitions, a wide range of coaching offers and Europe’s biggest investors’ network, they support startups in optimizing their strategy, building up their company and searching for founding and growth capital. For private as well as institutional investors BayStartUP ensures a qualified deal flow and offers Startup insights at exklusive business angel meetings and investor conferences. By means of federal startup-industry-matchings and conceptional offers BayStartUP gives established enterprises advice on the development of appropriate strategies when cooperating with startups. Via BayStartUP founders can contact about 300 active business angels and more than 100 institutional investors. Since 2015 BayStartUP has conveyed over 263 million Euro capital in 259 actively supervised round financings with a volume of 50.000 up to 6 million Euro. Enterprises accompanied by BayStartUP are active on the market with more than 13,100 employees and generate a turnover of almost 1.4 billion Euro (as of 2017). Amongst them are eight stock market launches and success stories like Flixbus, eGym, Magazino, Voxeljet, numares, Transporeon or va-Q-tec AG.