MK Capital Leads Investment in FoodOp to Bring AI-Powered Menu Planning & Procurement to Professional Chefs – March 2026
Chicago, IL – March 2, 2026 – MK Capital today announced it has led a €5 million funding round in FoodOp, the SaaS co-pilot for professional chefs. The round included participation from existing investor The Footprint Fund. The investment will support FoodOp’s expansion into the UK and United States.
Foodservice is a €2.6 trillion global industry, yet up to 70% of businesses still manage procurement, menu planning, and budgeting manually – relying on spreadsheets, Word documents, or pen and paper. Food waste compounds the challenge, accounting for an estimated 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions and costing the global economy €800 billion annually.
“Menu management systems are not new, but when 70% of kitchens still rely on pen and paper, it’s clear that existing solutions haven’t been accessible and intuitive enough,” said Nichlas Saul, Co-founder and CEO of FoodOp. “Our role model is Canva. Canva made design accessible to everyone, not just specialists. FoodOp does the same for kitchens — giving every chef a simple, intuitive way to save time, reduce costs, and focus on great culinary experiences.”
FoodOp has more than doubled its revenue and user base in each of the past two years. Today, more than 2,000 chefs across 700+ professional kitchens rely on FoodOp daily, with customers including leading contract caterers and hotel groups across the Nordics and UK. Among them is Thomas Franks, a family-owned contract caterer operating more than 350 sites across the UK and Europe.
“Foodservice is one of the largest and least digitized industries globally, and FoodOp is uniquely positioned to change that. We believe FoodOp has the potential to become the Canva for professional kitchens and a category-defining company,” said Mark Koulogeorge, Managing Partner at MK Capital.
Despite the scale of the global foodservice market, existing solutions have failed to achieve meaningful penetration — a dynamic FoodOp is now disrupting with an intuitive, AI-powered platform built for the realities of a professional kitchen. FoodOp plans to double its team over the next 12 months to support growth and continued product investment.
About MK Capital
MK Capital is a $500M+ AUM early and growth-stage venture capital firm that invests in disruptive business-to-business software and technology companies. The MK partners average over twenty years of venture capital experience and have built dozens of leading companies in their chosen markets. As a member of the MK Capital portfolio, companies gain access to experienced partners with deep operating experience, not just a line of capital. MK collaborates on strategy, operations, and technology as active board members, leveraging deep insights to drive growth and scale.
About FoodOp
FoodOp is a co-pilot for professional kitchens that helps chefs cut food costs, reduce administrative work, and drive sustainability. With FoodOp, chefs can plan and publish menus, manage procurement, and report on sustainability in one place. The company was founded in 2021 by Nichlas Saul and Christian Borkenfelt. Today, FoodOp works with leading contract caterers and hotel groups across the Nordics and the UK, with more than 2,000 chefs across 700+ professional kitchens using the platform daily.