FoodLab
FoodLab is a French dark kitchen and food court network that rents equipped professional kitchen spaces (22-62m²) to independent restaurateurs across 7 French cities, combining dark kitchen operations with physical food court venues, a proprietary multi-restaurant marketplace, and consolidated delivery.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersRoubaix, France
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What FoodLab does
FoodLab is a French dark kitchen and food court network that rents equipped professional kitchen spaces (22-62m² 'Lab' privatifs) to independent restaurateurs and food entrepreneurs across 7 French cities: Lyon 9, Lyon 3, Clermont-Ferrand, Nancy, Villeurbanne, Rennes, and Grenoble. Founded in 2019 by three hospitality school friends, the company operates a hybrid model combining dark kitchen-only sites with physical food court venues featuring dine-in seating (50-150 seats), bars, and self-service ordering kiosks. The core technology stack includes a proprietary Marketplace platform enabling single-basket multi-restaurant ordering via web app or in-store kiosks, plus an industry-first Mutualized Delivery Service that consolidates orders from multiple restaurants into a single courier trip. Food'Lab positions itself as an incubator and 'label of street food,' supporting 100+ hosted restaurateurs since inception with services spanning supplier negotiations, waste valorization, delivery platform onboarding, and HACCP-compliant kitchen infrastructure.
The company monetizes through three primary revenue streams: (1) recurring monthly kitchen lab subscriptions at €750-€2,000/month depending on location and size, with 1-year minimum contracts; (2) food court on-site dining sales and marketplace commissions on aggregated orders; (3) negotiated supplier rebates leveraging collective purchasing power across the tenant network. Customer segments include independent restaurateurs seeking low-capex entry (~€20,000 startup vs. €100k-300k for traditional restaurants), multi-brand digital operators running 3-6 virtual brands from a single kitchen, and franchise aggregators (Not So Dark, Taster) deploying portfolios as plug-and-play tenants. The GTM motion combines content marketing (industry blog), direct sales via professional contact forms, organic social presence (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok), and word-of-mouth within the French restaurateur community. In October 2022, the company raised approximately $5.8M from UI Investissement to fund national expansion, with the entity operating as SAS FOODLAB HOLDING (registered capital €37,900, RCS 890 597 107).
FoodLab firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- FoodLab
- Legal name
- SAS FOODLAB HOLDING
- Website
- https://foodlab-france.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- FoodLab is a French dark kitchen and food court network that rents equipped professional kitchen spaces (22-62m²) to independent restaurateurs across 7 French cities, combining dark kitchen operations with physical food court venues, a proprietary multi-restaurant marketplace, and consolidated delivery.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
FoodLab industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Commercial Kitchen Rental & Food Court Services
- NAICS
- Cafeterias, Grill Buffets, and Buffets (722514), Food Service Contractors (72231)
- SIC
- Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)
- akta.pro primary industry
- CPO (Central Production/Commissary) + Satellite Ghost Kitchens (THAFAJAH)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Meal Prep & Subscription Virtual Kitchens (THAFAJAI)
Keywords
Where FoodLab is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Roubaix
- HQ country
- France
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices7 records
Markets served
FoodLab business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Infrastructure, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Kitchen Laboratory Rental: Food'Lab rents private, equipped professional kitchen spaces (labs) to restaurateurs and food entrepreneurs. Rental contracts are annual (1-year minimum) and include utilities, internet, extraction systems, and shared common areas. Revenue is recurring and space-size dependent (22-62m² labs).
- Food Court On-Site Dining: Food'Lab operates food courts with on-site dining (seated restaurants and bars) at select locations (Nancy, Lyon 9, Clermont Ferrand). Customers order via kiosks or web app, generating revenue through food and beverage sales.
- Negotiated Supplier Pricing Commissions: Food'Lab leverages collective purchasing power across its restaurateur tenant network to negotiate preferential supplier rates, potentially generating rebates or margin contributions.
- Delivery and Order Aggregation Platform: Food'Lab's proprietary marketplace aggregates orders from multiple restaurants into single deliveries. The platform reduces per-order commission costs compared to third-party delivery platforms, while potentially generating platform take rates.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Grenoble - Small kitchen (23m²) |
| Subscription | Monthly | Lyon 3 - Dark kitchen (23-34m², no on-site dining) |
| Subscription | Monthly | Lyon 9 - Food court site (27-61m², with on-site dining) |
| Subscription | Monthly | Clermont Ferrand - Food court site (26-62m², with on-site dining) |
| Subscription | Monthly | Nancy - Food court/hybrid site (29-42m², with on-site dining) |
| Subscription | Monthly | Industry benchmark - professional kitchen rental (market range) |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels7 records
FoodLab product offering
Product offeringCore offering
FoodLab operates a network of shared commercial kitchens (dark kitchens) and food courts across French cities. Independent restaurateurs rent equipped kitchen space ("Lab' Privatif") to prepare food that is sold both on-site at FoodLab food courts and via delivery through the company's own marketplace and mutualized delivery platform. The model combines physical restaurant incubation space with an integrated digital ordering infrastructure.
Product overview
Food'Lab is a French dark kitchen network and multi-restaurant food court operator, founded in 2019 by three hospitality school friends. The company operates a hybrid model combining private professional kitchen rentals ('Lab' privatifs') with physical food court venues across 7 French cities. The core offering consists of secured kitchen spaces (22-62 m²) rented to restaurateurs for delivery, takeaway, and dine-in operations. These kitchens are aggregated within Food'Lab locations featuring the Marketplace platform, enabling customers to place unified orders from multiple restaurants via kiosks or webapp, with a mutualized multi-restaurant delivery service. The company positions itself as a 'label of street food' and startup incubator for restaurateurs, offering business support services including preferential supplier rates, performance tracking, and delivery platform connections.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Dark Kitchen Rental (Lab' Privatif)
Quantifiable outcome
- Multi-restaurant mutualized delivery reduces per-order delivery costs and commissions compared to Uber Eats/Deliveroo/Just Eat, while reducing courier trips and carbon footprint
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use FoodLab
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
FoodLab technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
FoodLab partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Les AchimistescoreLes Achimistes is Food'Lab's waste valorization partner at its Lyon location, transforming food waste (biodéchets) into compost. This partnership supports Food'Lab's eco-responsibility commitments and environmental sustainability goals.
- Les AchimistescoreSpecialized waste management company that collects used cooking oil, cardboard, plastics, and polystyrene from Food'Lab sites, then recycles and valorizes these materials. Food waste is composted through this partnership.
- Supplier Network (various food and equipment vendors)minorFood'Lab has established a network of preferred suppliers who offer negotiated pricing to its restaurateur tenants. These partnerships enable collective purchasing power advantages and preferential tariff rates for hosted restaurateurs.
- Not So DarkminorFrench dark kitchen franchise company that deploys its multi-brand portfolio within Food'Lab kitchen spaces. Restaurateurs can exploit Not So Dark's established brand portfolio as a 'plug and play' solution within Food'Lab facilities.
- TasterminorDark kitchen franchise operator that deploys established food brand portfolios within Food'Lab's network of dark kitchens, providing a ready-made brand portfolio for restaurateurs to operate within Food'Lab facilities.
- Delivery Platforms (Uber Eats, Deliveroo, Just Eat)coreFood'Lab maintains privileged relationships with major food delivery platforms (Uber Eats, Deliveroo, Just Eat) facilitating rapid onboarding for its restaurateur tenants. Food'Lab describes this as a key service: 'mise en relation privilégiée avec les plateformes de livraison.'
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
FoodLab competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Taster: Taster operates a portfolio of multi-brand virtual restaurants (Mission Couscous, O Tacos, etc.) across France and Europe, directly competing with FoodLab's kitchen-rental-plus-multi-brand-marketplace model.
- Not So Dark: Not So Dark is a French dark kitchen franchise that deploys multi-brand portfolios within partner kitchen facilities. As both a FoodLab channel partner and direct French competitor, it offers the closest like-for-like comparison.
- Deliveroo Editions: Deliveroo Editions is Deliveroo's proprietary dark kitchen network across Europe, offering shared kitchen infrastructure to restaurateurs with delivery baked in - a directly comparable model to FoodLab's kitchen rental with on-site dining.
- Foodles: Foodles is a French operator of smart connected fridges and corporate canteen dark kitchens, sharing FoodLab's model of providing food service infrastructure to multiple operators in a single physical space.
Broad incumbents
- Kitchen United: Kitchen United is an established US-based ghost kitchen and food hall operator with multi-city footprint, offering shared kitchen centers for delivery and takeout - a scaled, mature analog of FoodLab's model.
- CloudKitchens: CloudKitchens (Travis Kalanick-backed) operates a global network of delivery-only kitchen facilities with technology, supply chain, and last-mile services - the largest scaled player in the category FoodLab competes in.
- Ghost Kitchen Brands: Ghost Kitchen Brands operates multi-brand virtual restaurant food halls across Canada, combining several digital restaurant brands under one roof with on-site ordering - directly comparable to FoodLab's food court + dark kitchen hybrid.
- Reef Technology: Reef Technology transforms urban parking infrastructure into neighborhood kitchens and logistics hubs, providing multi-restaurant dark kitchen facilities across major US cities - a scaled analog of FoodLab's model.
Emerging players
- Keatz: Keatz is a Berlin-based delivery-only dark kitchen startup offering on-demand kitchen space to restaurateurs across Germany, sharing FoodLab's subscription-based rental model for meal prep and delivery.
- Streaters: Streaters is a French dark kitchen startup providing equipped kitchen spaces to food entrepreneurs for delivery operations, directly comparable to FoodLab's dark kitchen rental product in the French market.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks7 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
FoodLab social profiles
Digital presenceFoodLab financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
FoodLab leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
FoodLab funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
FoodLab M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about FoodLab
What does FoodLab do?
FoodLab operates a network of shared commercial kitchens (dark kitchens) and food courts across French cities. Independent restaurateurs rent equipped kitchen space ("Lab' Privatif") to prepare food that is sold both on-site at FoodLab food courts and via delivery through the company's own marketplace and mutualized delivery platform. The model combines physical restaurant incubation space with an integrated digital ordering infrastructure.
Is FoodLab a public or private company?
FoodLab is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was FoodLab founded?
FoodLab was founded in 2019. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is FoodLab based?
FoodLab is headquartered in Roubaix, France, in the Europe region.
How does FoodLab make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Kitchen Laboratory Rental is the primary driver. The others are food Court On-Site Dining, negotiated Supplier Pricing Commissions and delivery and Order Aggregation Platform.
Who are FoodLab's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Taster, Not So Dark, Deliveroo Editions and Foodles. Broad incumbents are Kitchen United, CloudKitchens, Ghost Kitchen Brands and Reef Technology. Emerging players are Keatz and Streaters.
Does FoodLab have an API?
No public API is recorded for FoodLab.
What industry is FoodLab in?
FoodLab's product category is Commercial Kitchen Rental & Food Court Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAFAJAH, CPO (Central Production/Commissary) + Satellite Ghost Kitchens, with a secondary code of THAFAJAI, Meal Prep & Subscription Virtual Kitchens. Its NAICS code is 722514 and its SIC code is 5810.