Ganiga Secures €1.5 Mn to Expand AI-Powered Waste Management and Food Waste Tracking

The funding round was led by Vivenda, an Italian contract catering company. London-based NextSTEP and three angel investors also participated in the round.

Ganiga has also secured €1 million through Smart&Start Italia, a funding programme managed by Invitalia. With this support, the company's total funding has reached €2.5 million.

Nicolas Zeoli, founder and CEO of Ganiga, said the investment will help scale technology already deployed in commercial settings. He added: "For a canteen, knowing which dishes are being wasted and why provides actionable data to inform purchasing, menu planning and service delivery. The new EU directive makes food waste reduction a binding target, and you cannot reduce what you do not measure."

Founded in Italy's province of Pisa by Nicolas Zeoli, Ganiga develops technologies that use artificial intelligence (AI), computer vision and robotics to improve waste management and reduce food waste.

The company first focused on robotic waste sorting, creating devices that can identify and separate different types of waste. Ganiga has sold more than 300 devices used in airports, shopping centres and large businesses across Italy, Japan, Australia and other European countries.

Using data collected from these devices, Ganiga later expanded into food waste management with HooolyFood, an AI-powered system that helps catering businesses track and reduce food waste.

HooolyFood uses cameras installed above waste containers to identify discarded food without the need to weigh it. The system provides useful data that helps catering operators reduce waste, improve purchasing and menu planning, and control costs. Developed in less than a year, the technology is already being used in operations that serve more than 30,000 meals every day.

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