Cerve secures funding to accelerate its commercial expansion across the UK, Europe and North America

London-based startup Cerve has closed a £3.5 million seed funding round led by SuperSeed, with participation from Zenith, Ponderosa and The First Thirty.

Cerve’s mission is to accelerate the digitisation of the global food supply chain via its API tools, delivering a standardised protocol. Over 2,000 organisations across the UK and Europe are utilising its infrastructure, including retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers, and producers.

Cerve was founded by Dan Mazig, a serial entrepreneur with expertise in leading data infrastructure and B2B solutions for Fortune 500 companies and early stage startups. Joining him is David Walker, Chief Commercial Officer, who brings senior leadership experience from Barclays, Dyson and Sky.

Mazig says: ”Solving the fragmented and disconnected problems within the food system requires new thinking and a more creative and innovative approach. Current progress is simply not fast or effective enough.”

“We believe that the key to a sustainable and resilient food system is rooted in data. Our approach provides the foundation for developers, rule breakers and innovators to help solve the most impactful problems of food waste and food security. We are building a world class team to solve the most interesting and challenging problems in the food industry that affect every person on the planet.”

“We were immediately impressed by the team’s understanding of the complex web that makes up the global food supply chain,” says Ferdinand Reynolds, Principal at SuperSeed.

“Dan and David had clearly spent a long time working backwards from the problems to arrive at a very sophisticated, elegant solution. Their approach to data standardisation and connectivity is groundbreaking and has the potential to reshape how the global food system operates. We are enormously excited to partner with Cerve as they continue to transform this industry.” 

With the new funding, Cerve plans to accelerate its commercial expansion across the  UK, Europe and North America. The expansion will also focus on strengthening its R&D capabilities, including hiring additional engineering, product and technical support teams. 

2024 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

Startups were a key focus area at the sixth edition of the RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards, sponsored by Vista Technology Support, Scala, CADS, 3D Cloud, Brightpearl by Sage’s Lightning 50, Business France, and Retail Technology Show 2025, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended last month’s gathering.