SOUS, an Amsterdam-based startup building AI-powered software to support independent food and beverage businesses, has announced it has raised €4 million in a Seed round to expand its team, enhance its AI platform, and support international growth.
The round was led by seed + speed Ventures, with participation from existing investor PeakBridge, along with āltitude, Gekko Capital, and a group of experienced angel investors.
“Running a restaurant means running a digital business. The local entrepreneur doesn’t have the budget for a CMO, CFO and CTO. We’re building an AI agent that takes over part of that work, so the local pizzeria has the same firepower and tools as large players like Domino’s with their many employees and budget,” said Thomas Scholte, co-founder and CCO, SOUS.
Founded in 2022 by Devon Scoulelis and Thomas Scholte, with co-founder William Hurst joining later as CTO, SOUS is building the digital growth infrastructure for independent restaurants. It enables restaurants, chefs and food brands to improve their digital visibility, sell directly to customers, and manage customer relationships across multiple channels.
According to the company, the restaurant industry is experiencing a significant shift, with customer discovery increasingly taking place online through search engines, maps, social platforms, and AI assistants.
At the same time, restaurants often depend on fragmented technology tools and third-party platforms that collect valuable customer data and levy high commissions.
To assist restaurants in adapting to this change, SOUS claims to be developing a new kind of software that employs AI agents operating continuously behind the scenes to support restaurant growth.
It states that these AI-driven systems help restaurants enhance discoverability across emerging AI platforms, search engines, and maps, attract traffic and convert it into direct orders and guest engagement, and automate marketing, brand presence, and customer communication.
“We believe we are only at the beginning of a massive shift in how restaurants operate. Restaurants are entering an era where AI will actively work on their behalf — managing their visibility, bringing guests through the door and helping them grow revenue. Our goal is to build the digital growth engine every restaurant needs to take advantage of this shift,” said Devon Scoulelis, co-founder and CEO, SOUS.
SOUS also claims that its platform enables restaurants to unlock new revenue opportunities. It enhances digital visibility, facilitates direct online sales to customers, and activates additional sales channels like takeaway, retail items, experiences, and subscriptions.
The Dutch startup reported that El Puente, a restaurant in Eindhoven, increased its online sales from €30,000 to €177,000 after adopting SOUS, without spending extra on marketing, and also reduced operational costs by 50%.
“More and more restaurants are generating revenue not just from table service, but increasingly through additional products and services. SOUS combines enhanced visibility across digital platforms, long-term customer loyalty, and additional direct business in a single solution. This way, the company helps restaurants become less dependent on third-party platforms and the limitations of their stationary business. SOUS opens up new revenue streams for restaurants and thus has the potential to become the leading growth platform for restaurants in Europe,” said Alexander Kölpin, Managing Partner at seed + speed Ventures.
SOUS states that the platform enables restaurants to retain ownership of their customer data, rather than passing it to third-party marketplaces. It is also collaborating with key players in the restaurant technology ecosystem to speed up the platform’s adoption and become the growth layer of the restaurant technology stack. One of these partners is Zenchef, a prominent restaurant reservation system in Europe.
As part of this collaboration, SOUS notes that restaurants using Zenchef will be able to access its tools designed to increase visibility and drive additional revenue. Through this partnership, SOUS attracts more guests to restaurant websites and booking pages by enhancing search and AI visibility; boosting reservation numbers flowing through Zenchef and helping restaurants convert more of that traffic into confirmed bookings.
With this fresh capital, the company plans to expand its product, AI development and commercial teams while strengthening its presence in European markets, starting with Germany. Germany represents the company’s first major expansion focus, with the team building a growing network of restaurant partners and technology integrations.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2026/03/amsterdam-based-sous-raises-e4-million-to-become-the-ai-powered-sous-chef-for-restaurant-growth/
