EatClub raises $18.2m in funding for UK expansion
Australia-based restaurant platform EatClub has secured $18.2m in Series A funding, facilitating its recent expansion into the UK market.
Co:Act Capital spearheaded the investment round, with contributions from Marbruck, Gandel Invest and Platform Advisory.
The move aims to launch EatClub's distinctive pricing model to London's dining scene, as reported by SmartCompany.
Founded in 2017 and endorsed by celebrity chef Marco Pierre White, EatClub initially achieved traction by enabling restaurants to leverage real-time dynamic pricing to fill empty tables.
The Covid-19 pandemic posed a significant challenge as dine-in transactions plummeted, but EatClub responded by enhancing its technology.
EatClub CEO Pan Koutlakis stated: 'While the world talked about a 'new normal,' we kept building. The board and our investors aligned on a bold move to keep developing breakthrough tech that would future-proof the business.
'It completely re-imagines what a dining incentive should look like. Restaurants get targeted demand, and diners get spontaneity without friction.'
The platform introduced EatClub Pay, a payment system that enables diners to claim offers via the app directly, eliminating the need for vouchers or codes.
Following a 190% year-on-year surge in 2024, EatClub's business has risen sevenfold from its pre-pandemic peak.
The company's growth trajectory paved the way for its international expansion.
With the fresh capital, EatClub plans to further its product development and consolidate its position in the global market, starting with its recent foray into the UK.
Co:Act Capital partner James Douglas stated: 'We're delighted to have led the round for EatClub. It is such an innovative Australian company, creating real value for both the hospitality industry and consumers.
'At a time when restaurants need smarter tools to drive demand and diners are seeking better experiences and value, EatClub delivers on both fronts. We see enormous potential not just in Australia, but globally.'
"EatClub raises $18.2m in funding for UK expansion" was originally created and published by Verdict Food Service, a GlobalData owned brand.
The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Upturn
an hour ago
- Business Upturn
Anupam Rasayan signs LOI with E-Lyte and FUCHS Lubricants Germany for long-term electrolyte salt supply
By Aditya Bhagchandani Published on June 12, 2025, 11:51 IST Anupam Rasayan India Ltd. has entered a new strategic domain with the signing of a Letter of Intent (LOI) with Germany-based E-Lyte Innovations GmbH and FUCHS Lubricants Germany GmbH. This collaboration marks the company's expansion into the lithium-ion battery chemicals market, where it plans to supply up to 1,500 TPA of Lithium Hexafluorophosphate (LiPF6) over a five-year period starting as early as FY26-27. E-Lyte, known for its cutting-edge work in electrolyte solutions for energy storage, and FUCHS Lubricants, a global leader in lubricants and a shareholder in E-Lyte, have selected Anupam Rasayan for its process optimization capabilities and supply chain reliability. The deal leverages Anupam's backward integration in fluorine chemistry via Tanfac Industries and positions it among the first commercial manufacturers of this electrolyte salt in India. Managing Director Anand Desai stated that this partnership is a strategic milestone in Anupam's journey to serve the growing energy storage and battery sector. The company views this as a gateway to multiple new opportunities in the electric mobility and next-gen battery ecosystem. Disclaimer: The information provided is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial or investment advice. Stock market investments are subject to market risks. Always conduct your own research or consult a financial advisor before making investment decisions. Author or Business Upturn is not liable for any losses arising from the use of this information. Aditya Bhagchandani serves as the Senior Editor and Writer at Business Upturn, where he leads coverage across the Business, Finance, Corporate, and Stock Market segments. With a keen eye for detail and a commitment to journalistic integrity, he not only contributes insightful articles but also oversees editorial direction for the reporting team.
an hour ago
Critical minerals give China an edge in trade negotiations
GANZHOU, China -- China's dominance over critical minerals in global supply chains was a powerful bargaining chip in trade talks between Beijing and Washington that concluded with both sides saying they have a framework to pursue a deal. China has spent decades building the world's main industrial chain for mining and processing such materials, which are used in many industries such as electronics, advanced manufacturing, defense and health care. Mines and factories in and around Ganzhou, a key production hub for rare earths, underpin China's control over the minerals. Many residents grew up collecting rocks containing the valuable minerals from the forested hills surrounding the southern city and today make a living from mining, trading or processing them. Responding to ever higher tariffs and other controls on advanced technology, China told exporters of certain key rare earths and other critical minerals to obtain licenses for every shipment abroad. Approvals can take weeks, leading to supply chain disruptions in the U.S. and other countries. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that China would make it easier for American industry to obtain much-needed needed magnets and rare earth minerals, clearing the way for talks to continue between the world's two biggest economies. In return, Trump said, the U.S. will stop efforts to revoke the visas of Chinese nationals on U.S. college campuses. But details remain scarce. Beijing has not confirmed what the negotiators agreed to, and Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump himself have yet to sign off on it. The Chinese Commerce Ministry said Saturday it had approved a 'certain number' of export licenses for rare earth products, apparently acknowledging Trump's personal request to Xi during a phone call last week. And on Wednesday, the Ganzhou-based rare-earth conglomerate JL MAG Rare-Earth Co. confirmed it had obtained some export licenses for shipments to destinations including the U.S., Europe and Southeast Asia. Experts say, however, Beijing is unlikely to do away with the permit system enabling it to control access to those valuable resources. The only scenario in which China might deregulate its critical minerals export is if the U.S. first fully removes tariffs imposed on Chinese goods as part of the trade war, said Wang Yiwei, a professor of international affairs at Renmin University, echoing the Chinese government's earlier stance. 'Without that,' he said, 'it will be difficult to blame China for continuing to strengthen its export controls.' In 1992, Deng Xiaoping, the leader who launched China's ascent as the world's biggest manufacturing power, famously said 'the Middle East has oil, China has rare earths,' signaling a desire to leverage access to the key minerals. Several generations later, Beijing has made its rich reserves of rare earths, a group of 17 minerals that are abundant in the earth's crust but hard, expensive and environmentally polluting to process, a key element of China's economic security. In 2019, during a visit to a rare earth processing plant in Ganzhou, Xi described rare earths as a 'vital strategic resource.' China today has an essential monopoly over 'heavy rare earths,' used for making powerful, heat-resistance magnets used in industries such as defense and electric vehicles. The country also produces around 80% of the world's tungsten, gallium and antimony, and 60% of the world's germanium -– all minerals used in the making of semiconductors, among other advanced technologies. The risks of dependency on Chinese suppliers first came into focus in 2010, when Beijing suspended rare earths exports to Japan due to a territorial dispute. The ban was lifted after about two months, but as a precaution, Japan invested in rare earths processing plants in other countries and began stockpiling the materials. Beijing's across-the-board requirement for export licenses for some critical minerals has put pressure on world electronics manufacturers and automakers. Some auto parts makers in Europe have shut down production lines due to delays in supply deliveries, according to the European Association of Automotive Suppliers. In the U.S., Tesla CEO Elon Musk said a shortage of rare earths is affecting his company's work on humanoid robots. In the drab industrial hub of Ganzhou, cradled by the scenic Dayu Mountains, the U.S.-China trade war is still a distant stressor. Miners and small mineral traders interviewed by The Associated Press said they are more concerned about depleting the mountains' once-abundant resources. Zhong, a tungsten factory manager in Ganzhou who would only give his last name, worked his way up to manager from a miner, but he's unsure there is a future for him and others in the industry. 'I find growing difficulties to source tungsten these days,' he said, adding that smaller mines and trading companies are slowly disappearing as the resources are dwindling. Tungsten is an ultra-hard metal used in armor-piercing ammunition, nuclear reactors and semiconductors. At least five tungsten mines have closed in the area in recent years, according to state media. Remaining reserves are deeper and harder to extract and process after decades of exploitation, said Li Shangkui, chairman of the Ganzhou-based Jiangxi Yuean Advanced Materials Co., Ltd. Processing factories in Ganzhou now routinely source materials from other provinces or other countries. Zhong's plant imports some raw materials from places like Africa and Cambodia. Major state-owned and private companies in Ganzhou are also ramping up investments abroad. Tungsten producer Ganzhou Haisheng, for instance, announced last year a $25 million investment in a new tungsten plant in Thailand. Whatever the challenges in procuring raw materials, China likely will seek to maintain its dominance in critical minerals, said Fabian Villalobos, an engineer and critical minerals expert at the RAND think tank. Between 2020 and 2023, the U.S. imported at least 70% of the rare earth compounds it used from China, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It has diversified its sources in recent years, but still mainly relies on China. Since beginning his second term in office, Trump has made improving access to critical minerals a matter of national security. But the U.S. has an incredibly long way to go to catch up with China, experts say. The sole operational U.S. rare earths mine, in Mountain Pass, California, is unable to separate heavy rare earths. It sends its ore to China for processing. The U.S. Defense Department has provided funding to the mine's owner, MP Materials, to build new separation facilities. It will take months to build and still only produce a fraction of what is needed. Friction over the issue has opened the way for government-backed financing that was unavailable before, said Mark Smith, who ran the Mountain Pass mine in the early 2010s and now leads NioCorp. It's seeking about $780 million in financing through the U.S. Export-Import Bank to build a processing facility in Nebraska for critical minerals including rare earths. The Defense Department has committed $439 million to building domestic rare earth supply chains, but building a complete mining and processing industrial chain like China's could take decades. 'There are going to be some real issues here unless we can figure out how to get along with China for a period of time while we're developing our own resources and our mainstream processing,' Smith said. The spotlight on critical minerals also provides opportunities for smaller miners to invest in extracting and processing some critical minerals, such as tungsten, considered 'niche' because they are needed in relatively small amounts in key industries, said Milo McBride, an expert on sustainability and geopolitics at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. 'For many of these companies, the business strategy hedges on a scenario where the U.S. and China become more confrontational and where trade relations become more uncomfortable,' McBride said. 'And all of a sudden, what was once an uneconomic project somewhere outside of China starts to make more sense.'
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Major bank's huge call on rate cuts
Westpac says the Reserve Bank of Australia will keep rates on hold when they next meet in July, despite weak consumer spending and falling economic growth. The big four bank has bucked money markets predictions, which are currently factoring in an 84 per cent chance of a rate cut in July, saying the RBA will be 'cautious and predictable'. Westpac chief economist Luci Ellis, a former assistant RBA governor, expects just two more rate cuts this year, coming in August and November, saying the market is getting ahead of itself. 'The (RBA) board described itself as having a preference to move cautiously and predictably,' she wrote in an economic note. 'This is code for not wanting to do back-to-back cuts. 'It also made it clear in the minutes that this was about reducing restrictiveness, not moving quickly back to neutral in the style of the Federal Reserve last year.' While homeowners may need to wait, Ms Ellis agrees with the majority of the market that interest rates eventually will fall below 3 per cent. To get to this point, Ms Ellis expects rate cuts will come in February and May 2026, though the central bank might also move in December should more Australians lose their jobs. According to the economist, the RBA will look to keep inflation under control over trying to give the economy a quick jump. 'Nothing that has happened since (the May meeting), including a disappointing GDP number, has been enough to tip the RBA into changing its mind in the near term,' Ms Ellis said. These figures released earlier in the month, showed GDP growth for the March quarter came in at just 0.2 per cent, lower than market forecasts. In May the RBA reduced Australia's GDP forecasts for the 2025 calendar year from 2.4 per cent to 2.1 per cent. But AMP deputy chief economist Diana Mousina disagrees, saying the weaker than expected GDP figures will see the Reserve Bank cut rates. 'The weakness in the March quarter GDP data pushed us to now expect another 0.25 per cent rate cut in July (as well as August, November and February 2026),' she previously wrote in an economic note. 'This is similar to market pricing at the moment.' Commonwealth Bank senior economist Belinda Allen also believes there could be a rate cut in July, if economic data comes in lower than the RBA forecasts. 'The progression of consumer spending data will be a key focus for the RBA ahead of the 8 July rate decision,' she said. 'The balance of probabilities continues to shift towards a July rate cut (our base case remains August) but will depend on upcoming data flow including the May monthly CPI and labour market data.' In a silver lining for households, Ms Ellis believes May's jobs data coming out next week will show the current jobs market is tighter than the RBA's view of full employment, meaning more Aussies will have a job. Ms Ellis said looking longer term, the case for multiple rate cuts is building as inflation shifts in the face of slower population growth and shakier private sector demand. 'Recent data has made it clear that population growth is unwinding a bit faster than previously thought,' she said. 'We have assessed that this is enough to have implications for housing costs, particularly rents. 'Over time, this puts a little more downside into measures of underlying inflation. We are also seeing a bit more downside in some parts of services inflation.'
