Friday4:30 bags £335k investment from Haatch for incident response platform aimed at food manufacturers
Friday4:30, a platform enabling food brands and manufacturers to manage and log issues from first alert to resolution, has gained a £335,000 investment from venture capital company Haatch.
London-based Friday4:30 is the brainchild of incident management expert Emma Sykes and her son Jack, who created a platform based on his mother’s knowledge. The pair say incident management is too often unprepared, disorganised and frequently leads to a ‘Friday 4.30 moment’, where a response is created ad hoc, late in the day.
“Food and beverage has and always will face incidents, from single product failures to full scale production line shutdowns. But, in a world where news travels faster than any response can, the stakes have never been higher. I've personally dealt with hundreds of incidents. Every single one needs to be handled in a systematic way,” says Emma Sykes.
She worked directly with food brands helping them overcome issues and incidents. “Over the years, I built a structured approach, and often said: ‘I wish someone could take what’s in my head and create software from it.’ When Jack decided to do just that, I was really thrilled by the possibilities. The businesses that come through incidents well aren't the ones with the biggest teams. They're the ones who are prepared."
Jack Sykes ran his own business while studying at Edinburgh University, creating work experience places for students at startups. His interest in technology first began when he took an online course run by Harvard University during the Covid period.
“I am not a coder, but I knew what I wanted to achieve, and there are some incredible tools that meant we could create a prototype of the product. I’d picked up so much over the years from listening to Emma and had a pretty clear idea of what incident response and preparedness involved. It's about bringing together the many moving parts. Incidents aren't always about a product or a service. They can be industry or business wide. The platform removes the need for crisis manuals, the scramble to get the right people in a room, and the age-old problem of institutional knowledge walking out the door, whether that's someone on holiday or someone who's left the business entirely."
Charlie Weavers-Wright, Principal Seed Investor at Haatch, says: "Friday4:30 is exactly the kind of business we love at Haatch. Emma has spent decades solving one of food and drinks’ most costly and underserved problems - and most companies are still managing product recalls and supply chain crises on spreadsheets and email chains. She and Jack are now encoding that hard-won expertise into software that makes professional crisis management accessible to every mid-market brand, not just those who can afford a retained consultant. The business already has real revenue, real customer intent and a clear gap in the market to fill. We couldn't be more excited to back them.”
Friday4:30 was launched in July 2025 and incorporated in September 2025. The company has built an advisory committee drawing on expertise from the UK and USA across food and drink, quality assurance, customer service, technology and professional services. “We wanted to do this properly from the outset so we formed an advisory committee in July last year to guide us on our journey. Now, with the investment and support from Haatch, we are ready to take this to market,” says Emma Sykes.
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
Food retail will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out our 2025 winners here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
