What Gronda does

Gronda GmbH, headquartered in Wattens, Austria, operates a mobile-first culinary platform that serves professional chefs, hospitality employers, culinary schools, and food enthusiasts across 175 countries. The platform combines a community app (iOS/Android, 2.5M users, 1.1M+ chefs) with a content library of 50,000+ exclusive recipes and 70+ masterclasses from Michelin-starred chefs, a customizable Chef Page product with Instagram import and AI-assisted recipe management, and a B2B recruitment marketplace (Chef Search) connecting restaurants and hotels with video-verified culinary candidates. The business was founded in 2020 by Valentin Schütz, Juan Vicci, and Tobias Zetzsche, initially as a chef-hiring platform for hotels in the Austrian Alps and pivoted during the COVID-19 pandemic to a content/community model after restaurant hiring demand collapsed.

The company operates a multi-stream revenue model: (1) tiered annual Chef Search subscriptions for hospitality employers (Starter €1,790, Classic €3,990, Unlimited €9,990 per year), (2) an individual Gronda PRO subscription unlocking the full content library, (3) creator monetization via brand partnerships, affiliate programs, and exclusive content on Chef Pages, (4) PRO for Teams and free PRO for Schools for institutional and educational access, and (5) direct brand-partnership advertising from food producers, suppliers, and kitchen-appliance manufacturers. Distribution is hybrid: self-serve mobile and web acquisition funnels individuals and small chefs, while direct enterprise sales (including a New York-based US sales presence) targets hotels, restaurant groups, and culinary brands.

The technology stack centers on a mobile app, a public chef directory and search experience, an AI-assisted content pipeline for recipe import and creation, and a matching algorithm that surfaces candidate chefs to employers. The company has 25 employees across 7 cities (Wattens, Innsbruck, Barcelona, Madrid, Toulouse, Vienna, and New York) representing 13 nationalities, and has raised approximately $2.79M in disclosed funding across three rounds (HOWZAT Partners, MairDumont Ventures, Speedinvest, karriere.at).

Name

Gronda

Legal name

Gronda GmbH

Website

https://gronda.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Gronda is an Austria-based mobile culinary platform serving 1.1M+ professional chefs and 1,300+ hotels/restaurants worldwide, combining a recipe and masterclass content library (PRO subscription) with an AI-assisted Chef Page builder and a B2B chef recruitment marketplace (Chef Search).

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Culinary Professional Platform

akta.pro primary industry

Cooking Classes & Chef-Led Workshops (THAJAGAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Professional Culinary Arts (Chef Training) (EDAOAKAA)

Keywords

• Culinary education platform
• Chef recruitment marketplace
• Recipe sharing platform
• Professional chef network
• Culinary content subscription

Headquarters

HQ city

Wattens

HQ country

Austria

HQ region

Europe

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. PRO Individual Subscription: Subscription-based access to exclusive recipes, masterclasses, and premium content. Unlock 50,000+ exclusive recipes from the world's best chefs. 93% of members say PRO is essential for every chef.
2. Chef Search Hiring Plans: Tiered annual subscription plans (Starter €1,790/yr, Classic €3,990/yr, Unlimited €9,990/yr) for restaurants and hotels to recruit chefs directly. Includes a 3-day free trial and 30-day guarantee.
3. PRO for Teams (B2B): Team subscriptions for culinary schools with free access for teachers and students, and corporate team subscriptions for hotels/restaurants.
4. Creator Program Monetization: Chefs monetize through affiliate programs, brand deals, and exclusive content subscriptions. Platform takes a transaction fee or revenue share on sales generated through the platform.
5. Brand Partnerships: Food producers, suppliers, and kitchen appliance brands pay for brand partnership opportunities with the chef community.
6. Chef Page Hosting: Custom chef profile pages with their own web address, used for monetization through recipe sales, brand deals, and affiliate links.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Gronda operates a mobile and web culinary platform that enables professional chefs to host recipes, take masterclasses from Michelin-starred chefs, build personal brands through customizable Chef Pages, and monetize content. For businesses, Gronda runs a Chef Search hiring marketplace that connects hotels and restaurants with video-call-verified chefs through tiered subscription plans (Starter €1,790/yr, Classic €3,990/yr, Unlimited €9,990/yr), plus specialized PRO for Teams and free PRO for Schools subscriptions.

Product overview

Gronda is a unified culinary platform comprising a mobile app (iOS/Android) with 2.5 million users, a premium subscription tier (Gronda PRO) offering 50,000+ recipes and masterclasses, a Creator Program enabling chefs to monetize their content, and a Chef Page builder for personal recipe websites with AI-powered tools. The platform also serves businesses through Chef Search recruitment services (with Starter/Classic/Unlimited hiring packages) and specialized PRO subscriptions for Teams and Schools. All offerings are integrated into a single ecosystem where chefs can share recipes, learn from masters, build their personal brand, and connect with employers worldwide.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Gronda App

Quantifiable outcome

• 93% of PRO members say PRO is essential for every chef
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability1 record

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Landhaus StrickerminorOthersHotel partner using Gronda's Chef Search hiring platform to recruit culinary talent. Featured as a customer testimonial case.
• Jan Hartwig (Restaurant Jan)minorOthersAward-winning restaurant owner and chef using Gronda for recruiting employees and building brand presence.
• Interalpen-Hotel TyrolminorOthersLuxury hotel partner recruiting chefs through Gronda's hiring platform. One of 1,300+ hotels and restaurants using Gronda for recruitment.
• Bayerischer HofminorOthersLuxury hotel partner recruiting culinary staff through Gronda. Featured as a recruiting partner.
• Robinson ClubminorOthersResort chain partner using Gronda for chef recruitment.
• Palais CoburgminorOthersFine dining establishment partner using Gronda for chef recruitment.
• Sea-ChefsminorOthersCulinary staffing/recruiting company partner using Gronda's hiring platform.
• BellevueminorOthersRestaurant/hotel partner using Gronda for chef recruitment.
• Eisvogel RestaurantminorOthersRestaurant partner using Gronda for hiring culinary staff.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Cookpad: Largest global recipe-sharing community platform. Direct peer because both companies run consumer/professional recipe hosting platforms with creator engagement, monetization, and subscription tiers — though Cookpad is consumer-led and much larger.
• ChefSteps: Culinary education platform offering technique-driven video classes and recipes from professional chefs. Closely comparable to Gronda's Masterclass and recipe content pillar, targeting both enthusiasts and professionals.
• Rouxbe: Online culinary school delivering video-based professional chef training and certification. Comparable to Gronda's masterclass and PRO for Schools offerings, with similar professional-training positioning and subscription model.
• Hosco: Hospitality careers platform connecting professionals with hotels, restaurants, and resorts globally. Directly comparable to Gronda's Chef Search hiring marketplace in terms of two-sided hospitality recruitment and pricing model.
• Hcareers: Specialized job board for the hospitality industry. Overlaps with Gronda's hiring marketplace in serving hotels and restaurants recruiting culinary staff, though Hcareers is broader and job-board rather than curated.
• Poachable: Hospitality-specific job marketplace focused on restaurant and hotel hiring. Comparable to Gronda's B2B hiring value proposition but without the chef community and content ecosystem layered on top.

Broad incumbents

• Allrecipes: Mass-market recipe discovery platform with a large community of home cooks. Comparable to Gronda's recipe-hosting product but broader/incumbent and consumer-focused rather than professional-chef-led.
• LinkedIn: Dominant professional network where many chefs already recruit and showcase their profiles. A broad incumbent that competes with Gronda's hiring marketplace from a portfolio position rather than as a culinary specialist.
• America's Test Kitchen: Established culinary content brand delivering recipes, video classes, and cooking education. Comparable to Gronda's masterclass and recipe content offering but as an incumbent media brand rather than a chef-UGC marketplace.

Emerging players

• SideChef: Smart kitchen and guided cooking app offering recipes and step-by-step cooking assistance. Adjacent emerging player in mobile cooking content, with consumer rather than professional chef positioning.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/GrondaEN
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gronda
• Instagraminstagram.com/gronda
• TikToktiktok.com/@gronda.com
• Xx.com/grondaapp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Gronda