Founded in 2020 by Nicolas Jeanne, Bolk’s first round of fundraising in 2021 produced four million euros. It has made it possible for Bolk to manufacture several prototypes of robots that create meals, to test them in companies, and thereby to enter the robotized catering market. For Bolk, 2022 is the first year of industrial production and commercial exploitation.
This first round raised funds from the following sources:
– Funds and business angels: Kima Ventures (Xavier Niel), Pierre Kosciusko-Morizet & Christophe Courtin
– Industrialists in the new food models sector: Anthony Bourbon (Feed), Matthieu Vincent (DigitalFoodLab), Thomas Battistini (Jour) & Adrien Verhack (Dejbox)
– Top-level sports personalities: Léo Dubois & Mathias Pogba
The whole of Bolk’s staff also share in the company capital.
In 2021, the members of a panel of major companies in the Île-de-France area (Paris and its suburbs) tested and gave their seal of ap-proval to Bolk’s robotized canteen.
A Bolk robot takes up less than 2 square meters of floor space and is simply plugged into the mains. It can produce up to 60 meals an hour, in total autonomy, with up to 300 different combinations, sweet or savory, either to be served cold or be reheated.
Because of the level of corporate interest, the industrial and com-mercial target for 2022 is to pro-duce about 40 robots and deploy them in both the Île-de-France and other provinces.
Initially, Bolk aims to market its ro-bot in companies, but is also inte-rested in places where people cir-culate, and in the development of robotized catering.
NICOLAS JEANNE founded his first com-pany at the age of 20 while he was still a student. He then launched the JEF Label network in 2015, with the objective of fede-rating and branding high-potential entre-preneurs and connecting them to an entrepreneurial ecosystem. He founded Bolk in 2020 with the aim of creating the first profitable robotized food business model in the world. He graduated with a BBA in Entrepreneurship in 2015 from the EDHEC business school.
“This fundraising is an important step in Bolk’s growth. It will enable us to gain an initial share of the market. The catering sector is constantly evolving and we are building a new self-service food experience, offering companies and their staff a daily menu of delicious and eco-responsible meals at the best possible prices; meals that are made to order and produced in 45 seconds flat, therefore ultra-fresh.”
