Food tech startup Peckwater Brands has added another company into its umbrella, with the acquisition of food delivery firm Eatclever for an undisclosed sum.
Peckwater creates virtual food brands, including menus, that it licenses to restaurants and businesses with the capacity to prepare additional meals for delivery.
Its virtual brands are available on delivery aggregators such as Deliveroo and Just Eat. It does not offer on-location dining, exclusively making its brands available to existing restaurants and in some cases dark kitchens, also known as delivery-only kitchens.
Hamburg-based Eatclever operates food delivery for virtual food brands in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland). The acquisition will give Peckwater an additional foothold in the central European nations.
The deal adds several food brands operated by Eatclever into Peckwater’s portfolio, including Taste & Soul, Chicos, and KoChi (Korean Fried Chicken).
Acquisition spree
London-headquartered Peckwater has been bolstering its European presence over the last five months, acquiring the operations of Honest Food Company in Finland, Sweden, Hungary, and Czechia back in September 2022.
The acquisitions are part of a European expansion plan that followed the closure of a £15m Series A funding round in June 2022. The specific terms of the Eatclever deal have not been disclosed by the company.
“In the past 12 months, we’ve greatly accelerated our international expansion, boosted by our Series A funding round last summer,” said Peckwater co-founder and CEO, Sam Martin.
“We’re now in seven new markets and working with hundreds of new clients – kitchen operators across Europe.”
The latest areas of expansion have extended Peckwater’s reach to 12 nations across Europe, Asia, and North America.
Virtual restaurants were popularised during the pandemic when delivery became the only option for restaurants to reach consumers. While the era of social distancing has passed, it allowed a wave of delivery-only food brands to cut costs on brick-and-mortar locations and staff.
The story was first reported by City A.M.