[Exclusive] Amsterdam’s SOUS raises funding from PeakBridge: Co-founder Thomas Scholte on building Shopify for culinary creators, partnerships and more

Be it’s a restaurant or independent chefs, they often aim to reach more customers and boost their earnings beyond their physical locations.

However, tackling the vast world of online sales can feel overwhelming.

Here’s where SOUS, an Amsterdam-based startup, comes into play with an all-in-one commerce operating system designed specifically for the culinary world.

Gets strategic investment

The Dutch startup secured a strategic investment from PeakBridge, the global foodtech venture capital fund backed by Edmond de Rothschild Private Equity and industry leaders.

The funding will accelerate product development and prepare the company for expansion across Europe in 2026/7 and then into the UAE.

Talking about the expansion plan to Silicon Canals, Thomas Scholte, Co-founder, says, “In places where we go next, such as Denmark, France, Germany, UK or the UAE, we’re deeply aware that culinary culture and merchant needs can vary a lot. We’re spending time understanding those differences and will be working directly with the local creators to make sure SOUS feels native, not just translated. The foundation stays the same, but the experience gets tailored.”

In just 2 years, SOUS has helped independent food businesses generate over €10M in additional revenue and serve more than 200,000 customers.

With the shift to a software-first business model, gross margins have surged by 69 per cent YoY—paving the way for scalable, international growth.

Currently, the company employs around 10 full-time people across product, engineering, and commerce.

“We’re hiring. This year, we’re growing in two main directions: expanding the product team to keep pushing on innovation, and bringing in local market leads to support our geographic expansion. We’re building a team that can scale globally without losing the closeness we have with our merchants and their audiences,” reveals Thomas.

Birth of SOUS

“SOUS was born from a frustration we experienced firsthand,” says Thomas.

The founders saw that many chefs and food entrepreneurs wanted to earn more by selling online, but they didn’t have the time, tools, or technical know-how to do it well.

“We saw talented food and beverage entrepreneurs doing everything manually—juggling disconnected systems, delivering orders themselves, and wasting time on admin instead of what they do best,” he says.

“Many established chefs were leaving the restaurant grind, and younger chefs weren’t rushing to open new venues. Instead, they were turning to digital—building a brand, a following, and revenue beyond the four walls of a restaurant. What they needed wasn’t another booking platform—an operating system for their new type of business,” he continues.

That’s when the idea for SOUS took shape. The founding duo (Thomas Scholte and Devon Scoulelis) realised that chefs didn’t just need a booking system, they needed a whole platform to run this new kind of food business.

So in 2022, SOUS was launched as a marketplace with a simple but powerful backend. It helped food creators sell directly to customers, starting with meal kits.

“We were tapping into a much bigger shift: a growing, underserved € 100 B+ market of independent food and beverage creators—restaurants, chefs, caterers, and artisanal brands—all looking to grow beyond traditional channels,” adds Thomas.

Currently, the company is planning to expand into new categories like chef-at-home services, culinary experiences, subscriptions, gift cards, and more.

SOUS simplified

“SOUS is the digital OS for modern food businesses,” says Devon Scoulelis to Silicon Canals.

SOUS is a commerce platform that empowers chefs, restaurants, and food entrepreneurs to launch, manage, and scale online businesses without needing a tech team.

From meal kits for delivery and pickup to products, experiences, and digital storefronts, SOUS provides the tools to launch, manage, and grow it all in one place.

“It’s a vertical SaaS platform built for the food industry, powered by AI, and designed to unlock new revenue streams fast. No code. No chaos. Just one platform built for how the next generation of food entrepreneurs work,” explains Devon.

What makes SOUS different?

SOUS isn’t just another foodtech tool—it’s infrastructure, explains Thomas.

“We didn’t build a ‘nice-to-have’ feature set. We built a platform that creators need if they want to grow in today’s digital food economy,” he adds.

“While other tools just plug into existing systems, SOUS replaces the chaos with one clean platform, says Thomas. “It’s like combining Shopify, Mailchimp, and Sendcloud, but built from the ground up for the food world.”

Thomas believes that SOUS stands out because it has a clear purpose, from its products to its brand.

Facing challenges head-on

According to Devon, expanding SOUS into new countries always comes with legal and delivery challenges.

However, SOUS plans to handle this in two ways: first, by building flexibility into the platform; and second, by partnering with locals who know the area best.

“At the end of the day, our job is to remove friction. The less time a food creator spends on bureaucracy, the more time they can spend doing what they do best: creating. That’s the lens we use for every product and operational decision we make,” he explains.

Partnerships & Collaborations

The Dutch company is also exploring partnerships with POS systems, payment processors, and delivery networks to further deepen the SOUS ecosystem and make existing tools work better together.

“We’re already in conversation about integrations with popular POS and reservation systems, as well as commercial partnerships with holiday parks and hotel groups. The idea is to let creators plug into the ecosystem in a way that feels native, not forced,” Devon notes.

Looking ahead!

In the next 5 to 10 years, the SOUS team wants to see tens of thousands of food creators using their platform to run digital-first businesses.

“Whether they’re selling a seasonal product drop, launching a virtual concept, or building recurring income through subscriptions, SOUS will be the backbone,” Thomas affirms.

The future of food is hybrid—part digital, part physical—and SOUS is building the foundation to make that future possible.

“Our goal? To become as essential to modern food businesses as Shopify is to e-commerce,” Devon concludes.