John Lewis Partnership & L Marks back WeFiFo
by Startacus Admin
'Airbnb for your kitchen table' startup WeFiFo have been backed by the John Lewis Partnership and investment specialists L Marks, following WeFiFo’s participation in JLAB, the leading UK retail accelerator programme.
Boosting WeFiFo’s mission to bring social eating and communal dining to the UK and beyond, WeFiFo had previously spent 12 weeks on the JLAB programme, working alongside partners in Waitrose and John Lewis focussing on offering supper clubs and other dining experiences in select Waitrose and John Lewis stores, as well as introducing their partners and customers to the wider WeFiFo community.
And as reported in today's Telegraph, WeFiFo will now gain £100k in investment from the continued partnership, with half coming from the retailer and half from investment specialist L Marks, which runs JLab.
WeFiFo was founded in 2016 to bring about a revolution in social eating, (We featured WeFiFo on Startacus in September). The company, based in 
Sussex, is the brainchild of Seni Glaister, a life-long food enthusiast, entrepreneur and the co-founder of The Book People. Standing for We Find Food, WeFiFo, aims to transform our attitudes towards eating out and is a platform for home cooks, supper club hosts and pop up restaurants to create and host food based events in their own home. WeFiFo markets these events to the hosts’ local community and connects people who love cooking, with those who love eating.
Speaking about the John Lewis Partnership backing WeFiFo CEO Seni Glaister says:
“Investment from the John Lewis Partnership – bringing with it as it does its association with trust, provenance and amazing food quality - is a real milestone for WeFiFo. We believe passionately in our mission to bring people together with food and to combat social isolation through eating together - a partnership with JLP will bring new audiences, talents and influence to bear.”
Going on to say:
“We are to the kitchen table what AirBnb is to the spare room. We want to be at the forefront of a social eating revolution that will see tens of thousands of people across the UK cooking for their neighbours and other guests who will quickly become new friends.”
The JLP investment follows WeFiFo’s recent award success, winning JLAB’s People’s Choice award, the Sussex Life Food & Drink award for Innovation and being shortlisted for the Lloyd’s Bank National Business Awards. Congrats to WiFiFo from team Startacus!
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
.png)
WeWALK, RNIB, and ICL consortium secures UKRI funding to improve mobility for visually impaired and elderly.
The impact of standards, ethics and conduct on business success and profits - Work.Life has some interesting insights...
.png)
The lowdown on Space32 - the startup that wants to help hybrid-working businesses find the working space and solution that's right for them.
.png)
Global Tech for Good initiative seeks innovative startups and scaleups that are creating positive social impact and enhancing people's lives through tech.
The lowdown on Bidnamic, the startup that's combining advance machine learning with human expertise to help retailers to maximise revenue and profitability from Google Shopping.
Innovative Czech fintech startup 4Trans raises investment to expand first of its type AI driven factoring services across Europe.
Edinburgh-based life science company Cytomos secures funding to support further development of its innovative cell analysis tech.
Ethical Equity and Streets Consulting join forces to deliver Founder Workshop to help close the inequality gap in startup to scaleup funding.
Fancy being featured in this year’s SmallBiz100, which showcases the best of Britain’s vibrant small business community? There's just a couple of days left to do just that!
Screenloop secures major investment to support further development of its AI-driven recruitment platform that helps companies build the best teams and removes unconscious bias.
Published on: 27th November 2017
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.
- Assistive technology innovators and partners awarded £1.7m project funding 1st Jul 2022 WeWALK, RNIB, and ICL consortium secures UKRI funding to improve mobility for visually impaired and elderly.
- How the pandemic affected each industry 27th Jun 2022 New research from School of Marketing reveals the impact that Covid-19 has had on key business sectors in the UK.
- The Finalists of DBACE 2022 are revealed 21st Jun 2022 The lowdown on the innovative young visionaries that are in the running for this year's Deutsche Bank Awards for Creative Entrepreneurs.
- OKAPI: Orbits raises €5.5m for Breakthrough Space Traffic Management Software 13th Jun 2022 Innovative German SaaS startup OKAPI:Orbits secures investment to support its mission of securing efficient and safe operations in space.
