Torg, a Berlin-based B2B startup, has secured €2.7 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round. The investment round was led by Connect Ventures and joined by existing investor FoodLabs (which invested in Pacifico Biolabs and Una Health) and new investors, including Sondo, Ventures Together, Sameer Singh, Jonas Meynert (co-founder of Lanch and Torg user).
With the fresh funding, Torg aims to further develop its platform and expand its supplier database, and build more intuitive tools for buyers to save time and make their jobs easier.
Connects buyers and suppliers
Bringing over 20 years of global experience in leading companies across e-commerce, foodtech, and consulting, Hans Kristian Furuseth, Ben Holdham, and Rita Kerbaj founded Torg to solve the inefficiencies of the sourcing process.
Their past experiences at companies like Zalando, Delivery Hero, Just Eat Takeaway, and Farmasiet helped them develop a digital, intuitive platform that dramatically improves and simplifies the process, mirroring the ease of e-commerce platforms they had previously led. Their goal is to enable buyers to focus on their core responsibilities, by leveraging various technologies to streamline otherwise manual and time-intensive work.
Torg’s solution demonstrates the transformative power of AI for sourcing. With this solution, buyers can set up a product request in just two minutes and distribute it to hundreds of relevant manufacturers. The company’s platform efficiently captures a wide range of data sources to identify, verify, and vet suppliers. Torg’s supplier database features complete profiles, certifications, product capabilities, and relevant contact information.
Deploys machine learning and AI
The company makes it incredibly easy for retail and wholesale buyers to discover, connect, and collaborate with over 100,000 high-quality, verified food and beverage suppliers in Europe. To save time and money for both buyers and suppliers, the company streamlines sourcing processes through supplier discovery, communication, negotiation, and financing.
In just 14 months, Torg has leveraged machine learning and AI to build the largest and most enriched database of suppliers in food and beverage, already featuring more than ten times as many manufacturers as the largest food fairs such as Anuga and SIAL.
“Buyers have few good ways of finding new manufacturers. They rely on trade fairs which occur once a year and where less than 10% of global suppliers exhibit, or on desktop research, sifting through unverified websites. The market is much bigger than most buyers realise,” said Hans Furuseth, Co-Founder and CEO at Torg. “We democratise private label products by opening up the market, creating more transparent supply chains, and putting less known, quality suppliers on the map. Our goal is to create meaningful business connections for both sides of the market. In a way, we’re Tinder for sourcing,” he added.
“The drivers are clear – consumers are demanding transparency, certifications, and lower prices for the food they purchase and grocers and wholesalers are looking to own more of their supply chain in response. Torg enables this by creating the first digital sourcing platform for private label food and beverage, bringing sourcing decades ahead from where it is now,” said Sitar Teli, Partner at Connect Ventures.
“At Lanch, we were so impressed with Torg that I had to invest myself. We tried sourcing the traditional way by using agencies and consultants, but after three months, we had only gotten three quotes, all above our target price. We tried Torg and in two weeks, we received 15 quotes from top manufacturers, most below our target price. Not only did we achieve great results, but due to Torg’s efficient tools, we decided against hiring a dedicated sourcing team and now do all our sourcing through Torg.” Jonas Meynert Co-Founder at Lanch and angel investor.
“Torg is revolutionising food and beverage procurement and the numbers speak for themselves: over half of Torg buyers receive quotes 30% below their target price. Their platform not only reduces operational burdens but also enables the launch of superior and cheaper private label products, meeting the growing demands of consumers,” remarked Till Hoelzer, Principal at FoodLabs. “Hans and the team have built a best in class sourcing solution. We’re eager to support their ongoing efforts to advance industry-leading products”
