B2B food distribution marketplace Prep serves up $200,000 pre-Seed round

Food distribution startup Prep has raised $200,000 from Melbourne VC Skalata to connect major food retailers, corporates and restaurants with emerging food brands.

Prep enables food producers and brands to efficiently scale B2B distribution – anywhere – for a low margin. The platform integrates with a producer’s existing ordering systems, and is five times more scalable.

Cofounder Sean Miller, a former restaurateur, said focus for Prep is smaller producers such as bakers, brewers and specialist growers along with subscription boxes and meal kits. 

“The problem is that these businesses are hard to scale, hard to distribute across old systems littered with middlemen, and hard to get traction outside of their immediate backyards,” he said. 

The B2B marketplace gives producers a direct line to major wholesalers, and added marketing support from Prep. An AI assistant works in the background helping with sales, distribution, forecasting and insights.

On the other side of the marketplace, wholesale buyers get access to hundreds of new brands, using customer data to tell them where the trends lie.

Prep’s marketplace users include Sydney Airport, Qantas, WHSmith, and tech unicorn, Canva, which has its own in-house canteen. Prep is currently in a trial phase with Australia’s largest grocery chain.

In 2023, Prep delivered over 30,000 cartons across NSW, Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia and Singapore, and has seen double-digit month-on-month growth.

Cofounder Mathieu Jamet said that while various companies tackle different layers of the industry such as sales, delivery, and ordering, no one in Australia is currently trying to create a network of this scale. And the result is “better pricing, better choice, better service, and better transparency – whether you’re the local bakery next door or an international FMCG player”.

Jamet added that the challenge for smaller suppliers is that they’re “firmly focused on survival” so the barriers for scaling are far too high.

“We integrate a software layer that connects infrastructure together, rather than us having to own fleets or warehouses ourselves,” he said. 

Skalata investment director Tom Smalley said the startup is giving smaller suppliers that chance to grow in ways they previously couldn’t imagine.

“Prep is offering emerging and established Aussie food brands the opportunity to go national – and global – earlier, easier and more cost-effectively,” he said.

“What was previously in the ‘too hard basket’ is now simple for both sides of the marketplace.”