If you are considering an investment of more than 100,000 euros, please contact the management of Beets & Roots directly at service@invesdor.com.
Food tech company with 16 restaurants and more than EUR 10 million system revenue
Further expansion in high-margin transport catering with proof of concept at BER-Berlin Airport and Friedrichstrasse-Berlin railway station
Clear path to exit in 2026 - beets and roots anticipates quadrupling of the invested amount: thanks to sustainable store and brand growth, the company plans to sell to an investor for rollout in Europe
Invest on the same terms as the existing investors (founders, business angels and a large German family office) with liquidation preference and tag rights
„Our expansion of locations continues to gather pace, enabling us to secure rental agreements for three new shops at the main railway stations of three major cities in Germany. This will enable us to further increase our brand awareness and secure strategically favourable positioning at busy transport hubs.
Invest now and join us on our journey!"
Maximilian Kochen, founder and CEO Beets & Roots GmbH
Healthy nutrition: fast, personalised and sustainable
Optimising your own diet is becoming increasingly important. Especially given the stress of everyday working life, many people want lighter meals that suit their taste and personal diet plan. At the same time, the desire for sustainability and the careful use of available resources is increasing.
Beets & Roots GmbH is a food tech company based in Berlin and offers healthy, tasty and balanced meals that can be put together quickly and individually. In order to reach a large number of customers in the shortest possible time, beets&roots is increasingly focussing on offering its products at important transport hubs such as train stations and airports. The pursuit of a sustainable business model in system catering also plays a central role for the company.
Since it was founded in 2016, the company has opened 16 restaurants - of which 11 restaurants in 5 German cities are operated by the company itself. The 5 other locations are operated by franchise partners in Berlin, Hamburg and Frankfurt am Main. In addition to offering food in restaurants, beets&roots also offers food to order. This part of the business continues to grow rapidly without the need to rent additional premises.
beets&roots employs 175 people and generated system revenue (including income from the franchise business) totalling more than EUR 10 million last year.
The beets&roots range includes bowls, wraps, salads and soups. In the area of transport catering at large railway stations and at the airport, sandwiches are also offered to make it easier for travellers to take their food with them. All dishes are available as a culinary composition from the in-house creation team or as a customised version, where customers can put together all the components themselves. The concept thus appeals to customers who value healthy eating but have little time available.
The food can either be consumed directly in one of the restaurants, taken home or delivered via a delivery service. In addition, beets&roots already supplies a large number of business customers who book meals for meetings and events as catering offers or office lunches.
The company also generates income from franchise operations. Furthermore, an initial pilot project is currently underway to see how pre-packaged beets&roots branded bowls are being received by customers in supermarkets.
The multi-channel approach, as well as the visibility in highly frequented transport hubs, enables beets&roots to generate sales from various channels and at the same time continuously increase brand awareness.
Healthy "fast food" from a Michelin-starred chef with digital trend analysis
The dishes offered are created and continuously developed by Andreas Tuffentsammer, the youngest Michelin-starred chef in Germany. When creating the dishes, digital customer data is analysed in order to identify current customer needs and trends promptly and to be able to respond to these in the form of new creations.
High level of digitalisation in the restaurants increases per capita sales
In recent years, beets&roots has successfully worked on the digitalisation of processes and the expansion of online channels. The various digital ordering channels such as the app, the self-order terminals and the online ordering system have already increased average per capita sales by 25%.
Sustainability in system catering
beets&roots strives to become a climate-friendly company and is working with KLIM, a partner for climate-positive food. In addition to replacing disposable bowls with reusable bowls, more and more meat alternatives (e.g. vegan kebabs) are also available for customers to choose from.
The specific sustainability initiatives can be viewed here.
beets&roots competes with companies from the healthy fast-casual segment such as for example Dean & David as a national system catering business. It is also positioning itself in the fast-casual segment against brands such as Maloa Poke. On the premium healthy fast-casual segment, beets&roots is number one in Germany.
In comparison to its competitors, the company has a broader base and excels in terms of its innovative strength and omnichannel presence. Guests not only benefit from the unique and innovative flavour experience at star cuisine level, but also from the speed of food preparation and simple ordering system. The focus on sustainability with the wide range of vegan dishes and the use of reusable bowls is another competitive advantage that sets beets&roots apart from its competitors.
The omnichannel approach, in which the product range is not only sold in the stores, but also in the business customer segment as a delivery service and in retail outlets (e.g. supermarkets), leads to above-average profitability per square metre. In addition, the presence in the B2C and B2B sectors ensures a high level of brand awareness.
Founder & CEO
Maximilian Kochen is a graduate of the renowned Bayes Business School in London. He was subsequently responsible for the turnover of the British Groupon offer page and led the first team of his own. At the reservation platform Quandoo, he was Head of Partner Management for Europe, Middle East and Africa, as well as Head of Operations UK. At Quandoo, he was responsible for the strongest phase of scaling. In 2016, he founded Beets & Roots GmbH in Berlin with Andreas Tuffentsammer and contributes his successful start-up experience.
Investor & CEO L’Osteria
Mirko Silz graduated in wholesale and foreign trade before supporting McDonald's franchise companies in various management positions from 1991 to 2005. In 2006, he was appointed sole member of the Management Board of VAPIANO SE. From 2014 to 2017, he managed his own restaurants in Dresden as a franchise partner of the L'Osteria brand, while also serving as CEO of the Coa brand. From 2016-2023, he was CEO of L'Osteria and played a leading role in the successful sale of the company to the McWin Group in 2023.
Investor & former Vapiano board member
Silvio Beiler is a strategic investor in Beets & Roots GmbH. The trained chef is an expert in system catering. After working at McDonald's for ten years, he was a member of the Management Board of Vapiano AG from 2003 to 2005. He then led the first Vapiano restaurants in Berlin to success as managing partner. He sold the restaurants in 2012 and has been the exclusive franchisee of L'Osteria in Berlin-Brandenburg since 2013. He sold two of the five L'Osteria restaurants back to the parent company in January 2019. Kapilendo's crowd investors received the maximum success interest from the exit. At beets&roots, Silvio Beiler can contribute not only his experience in system catering but also his strategic knowledge of the Berlin region.
Beets & Roots GmbH is the holding company and is responsible for the strategic development of the Group as well as the operational activities of the Berlin and Hamburg branches. The Group also owns 100% of Beets & Roots Stuttgart GmbH and Beets & Roots Rheinland GmbH as well as 65% of Beets & Roots Hamburg GmbH. Beets & Roots Frankfurt GmbH is a 51% joint venture of the Group.
The subsidiaries are responsible for the operational location business. The subsidiaries' revenue is accounted accordingly by the parent company.
Maximilian Kochen holds 43.05% of the shares indirectly via MK18 Venture UG (haftungsbeschränkt).
The business angels from the first financing round, including Mirko Silz and Silvio Beiler, Managing Director of L'Osteria Berlin-Brandenburg and former Vapiano board member, hold 23.84% of the company shares.
Two German family offices hold a total of 20.52% of the shares.
The remaining 12.59% of the shares are held by three shareholders, each with less than 7.5% of the shares.
With up to €1.5 million investment:
With up to €1 million investment:
With up to €500,000 investment:
The pre-money valuation of Beets & Roots GmbH is more than EUR 20 million.
This is an increase of 25% on the last valuation from 2022 and shows that the company was able to increase its valuation with its strategy and the growth it has realised, even in a difficult market environment. In particular, the confidence of the existing investors, who are all participating, shows the fundamental substance of the business model. A sales multiple of 2x was used to derive the valuation. The multiple is validated in particular by previous, comparable transactions in the system catering sector in 2023. Looking at transactions in the system catering sector outside Germany, the tech-based omnichannel model of Beets & Roots GmbH certainly offers potential for a higher sales multiple.
In addition to growth in the omnichannel model (B2B & retail) and in existing markets, beets&roots wants to drive expansion in other cities such as Munich, primarily via licence partners. In this way, they want to increase system sales from the current level of over EUR 10 million to EUR 36 million over the next three years. This approach has two key advantages:
Additional investments in Beets & Roots GmbH (Company Stores & Tech Development) are expected to require between EUR 3 and 5 million in debt financing by 2026.
In summary, it is expected that with system sales of EUR 36 million and an increase in the current sales multiple of 2x by 10-15% (proof of concept for European expansion), based on the current valuation and taking into account the liquidation preference to which the investors are entitled in this financing round, a quadrupling of the capital invested in this round can be realised for the investors.
With significant growth in stores and brand, beets&roots is planning to sell to an investor for a European roll-out. The following scenarios are conceivable:
Sale to a multi-location operator:
Successful growth in the food service industry requires operational strength and an optimised cost structure. Therefore, large multi-location operators are keen to add young brands with existing locations and staff to their portfolio.
In the food sector, there is a fundamental strategy to better reach and understand the end customer. Here, a brand like beets&roots with strong relationships with B2C as well as B2B and travel customers becomes an interesting acquisition target.
Sale to a strategist
In the F&B sector, companies are looking for strong brands that have a direct relationship with the end customer. Through our omnichannel approach with a focus on end customers, it can be an exciting value proposition.
Sale to a financial investor
In recent years, specialised funds have been formed that bundle several brands with growth potential in order to scale them in Europe.
1 share:
25 % Discount*
If you purchase 1 share, you will receive a 25% discount on all online orders until 1 March 2025.
2 to 3 shares:
35 % Discount*
If you purchase 2 or 3 shares, you will receive a 35% discount on all online orders until 1 March 2025.
4 shares or more:
50 % Discount*
If you purchase 4 or more shares, you will receive a 50% discount on all online orders until 1 March 2025.
Notes:
*Bonuses will only be awarded to investors when the investment project is finalised and after the financed amount has been paid out to the company, approximately 4 weeks after the financing is closed.
Your voucher code is expected to be displayed in your Invesdor portfolio from 1 March 2024.
The code can be redeemed once per day for orders up to 29€ (before discount).
Invest in attractive companies via a trust office foundation (STAK). Benefit from growth and the potential increase in value.
Participation in unlisted companies
Access to new lucrative investment opportunities through direct participation in companies that are not listed on the stock exchange
Same financial benefits as shares
Shares in the trust office foundation offer the same financial benefits as the associated shares. (In the case of beets&roots highest liquidation preference.)
Duty to protect economic interests
Trust office foundations are obliged to protect the economic interests of investors and exercises voting rights in a bundled manner to strengthen the crowd
The participating liquidation preference is a clause that is used in financial contracts, particularly in the case of investments by venture capitalists. It regulates how the proceeds from a company liquidation or sale are distributed among the various investors.
In the case of a participating liquidation preference, the investors have the right to first receive their original investment amount back before the remaining liquidation proceeds are distributed to the other investors. In addition, the participating investors can also participate in the remaining proceeds, allowing them to realise a higher overall return.
This clause offers investors a certain degree of security, as they first receive their investment back before other investors or shareholders share in the profits. It is important to note that the exact terms and mechanics of the participating liquidation preference may vary depending on the contract and agreement.
In this update section you will find new, project-relevant information that we receive.
Invesdor does not conduct a separate review of information received after the start of the financing phase.
What type of processing is used for the products?
In which countries are the products sourced - are they possibly flown in and distributed to the locations?
Max Kochen, founder and CEO Beets & Roots GmbH:
"The products we use in the production of our dishes are processed to the highest quality standards. Our focus is on fresh, sustainable ingredients and increasingly vegetarian options to ensure a healthy and flavoursome product. An important part of our sustainability initiatives is to offer climate-positive products. Together with our partner Klim Foods, we therefore support farmers in investing in regenerative farming methods that bind CO₂ in the soil and thus promote climate positivity. Last year, we were able to store several tonnes of CO₂ in the soil of Brandenburg with our Portobello Beet Bowl by Klim.
When choosing our partners and suppliers, we attach great importance to regionality and sustainability. Our aim is to work with our suppliers to optimise our supply chains and, in the long term, only work with products with which we can operate in the most sustainable way and further reduce our carbon footprint. The countries of origin of our ingredients may vary, but the majority are sourced directly from Germany.
To minimise the environmental impact of transport and to promote the regional economy, we mainly work with local suppliers and use CO2-neutral transport vehicles. Our entire packaging line already comes from a certified organic supplier and is 100% recyclable. In addition, together with our partner Chefs Culinar, we are constantly looking for sustainable packaging alternatives and try to save packaging material wherever possible."
Hello Max, thank you very much for taking the time for this interview.
This is now your 5th crowdfunding campaign on Invesdor. With the new campaign, what motivates you to use crowdfunding again as a financing method and what experiences or lessons learnt from previous campaigns influence your approach this time?
The positive experience we had with Invesdor was the deciding factor for us to work with you yet again. We are once again relying on strong and committed investors who believe in our vision and growth.
Our experience so far has shown that the crowd plays an important role in our funding strategy. The support of investors has not only helped us to raise capital, but has also led to a strong network and a close relationship with our brand.
Beets & Roots GmbH is aiming for further growth and the collaboration with Invesdor enables us to realise these expansion plans. We firmly believe that a broad participation of our community not only increases the funding pots, but also creates a strong and sustainable basis for our future success. As long as the collaboration is successful for us and our investors, we look forward to continuing on this path together and taking our company to the next level.
The decision to offer shares this time marks a change in the financing of your company. What motivated you to take this step and what strategic advantages do you hope to gain from this new form of capital procurement?
The decision to offer shares for the first time is the result of our strategic direction and growth plans. As a company, we strive for sustainable growth and issuing shares enables us to create a broader capital base. We see this as an opportunity to maximise our expansion potential and realise our growth targets more quickly.
By selling shares, we also have the opportunity not only to mobilise financial resources, but also to build a committed community of shareholders who believe in our vision. This form of capital acquisition offers a long-term perspective and strengthens the connection between our company and our community.
It strengthens equity, and more interesting for investors because they are now directly involved - we are aiming for an exit. We are currently calculating with a possible quadrupling of the investment for investors.
A lot has happened at your company since the last financing round. Could you give us an overview of the progress and developments that have taken place? And from the perspective of potential investors who have already invested in the past or are looking to join, why should they invest in your company right now? What opportunities and growth prospects are there that make the investment attractive?
Since our last crowdfunding, Beets & Roots has grown significantly and achieved numerous milestones that emphasise our growth and success story:
We have successfully opened two new restaurants, while two more are undergoing remodelling. This means that we now have a total of 16 restaurants, 11 of which we operate ourselves. In addition, our products are now available in 20 Edeka and Rewe shops in Stuttgart, Hamburg and Berlin, and our range has been expanded to include baked goods and other meat substitute products.
In addition, the expansion of our store network was driven forward by the acquisition of a further franchise partner in Hamburg. Locations at transportation hubs, particularly at BER airport, are generating above-average sales. Last year, the delivery segment saw considerable growth of 35%.
The beets&roots loyalty programme was also successfully introduced to increase customer loyalty.
And very importantly for future investors, all previous liabilities from earlier crowdfunding were repaid on schedule.
All these successes provide a solid foundation for future growth and represent an attractive opportunity for potential investors.
You're referring to 11 restaurants that you run yourself. During the last crowdfunding round, there were 12. Did you have to close restaurants as an addition to opening new ones?
No, none of our shops have been closed. We merely sold two of our restaurants to a franchise partner in Hamburg, meaning that we now have 11 restaurants in our own operation and 5 franchise restaurants.
In light of your impressive progress, we are naturally also interested in how external factors such as the rise in VAT in the catering industry are affecting your company and what strategies you are pursuing to meet these challenges?
Thanks to our omnichannel focus, we generate the majority of our sales outside the store. The VAT rate remains unchanged here. We expect the weighted VAT rate to increase by 3%. With regard to our price development, we still see room to compensate for the loss of margin through price increases. Particularly in Travel and B2B, we still have leverage to increase prices without having a lasting negative impact on frequency.
Finally, is there anything else you would like to tell potential investors or the public?
We are convinced that Beets & Roots GmbH has an exciting journey ahead of it and we invite interested investors to participate in this success story. Your trust and support are crucial for our common future.
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