At a time when food logistics is facing unpublished challenges, between environmental tension, logistical inflation and freshness requirements, califrais pursues a singular trajectory. Known to be the digital and logistical operator of the Rungis market since 2021, the Parisian startup announces a fundraising of 10 million euros intended to structure its expansion beyond the rungismarket.com platform and to industrialize its owner technologies based on artificial intelligence.
TL; DR – Califis structures its logistical expansion after a lifting of € 10 million
👥 For whom is it important?
- Agrifood sector decision -makers and wholesale markets
- Actors of logistics and supply chain B2B
- Deeptech, applied and foodtech investors
- Communities and institutions involved in logistical decarbonation
💡 Why is it strategic?
- The cost market remains under-equipped in AI and predictive solutions
- Califis is already an official operator of the Rungis market
- The platform combines AI, cold logistics and operational efficiency
- This lifting marks a local model passage with a scalable platform
- Few European players combine owner technology and logistics execution
🔧 What it changes concretely
- Industrialization of technological bricks developed internally
- Extension planned for other wholesale markets in France and Europe
- Investments enhanced in R&D on the forecast of flows and predictive logistics
- Reinforced positioning in front of actors like Afresh or Choco
- New growth phase backed by a profitable model
Since its creation, Califis has been positioned at the intersection of the Supply Chain, Deeptech and Food. Unlike traditional logistical circuits, fresh products management requires composing with extreme volatility of flows, strong perispssiability and data instability. It is precisely at this level that Califis concentrated ten years of R&D, in collaboration with the CNRS and Sorbonne University. This work made it possible to design an algorithmic infrastructure adapted to these constraints, integrating prediction of flows, predictive logistics and optimization of stocks.
The rungismarket.com platform is the operational showcase of this approach. In 2024, more than a million products were delivered there with an error rate below 1 %. Professionals can order until midnight to be delivered from 6 a.m., with two -hour slots and prices less than 5 to 10 % to those on the market. The whole is based on a logistics rationalization piloted by AI. This mastery allowed Califis to reach an annualized turnover of 20 million euros, while retaining a profitable model.
The B2B food logistics segment remains little structured. In France, the majority of innovations in foodtech focus on the last kilometer or the B2C model: actors like Smartway in the reduction of unsold, my market for urban delivery or Agrikolis for short circuits send specific verticals. In the United States, AFRESH works with food signs to optimize their stocks, while Instacart offers software bricks to retailers, mainly in the general public.
In this landscape, califrais occupies an atypical position. The company combines predictive software infrastructure, logistics control of fresh products, and anchoring on a strategic wholesale market. This integrated model allowed him to win in Rungis in the face of larger digital players.
This local success now feeds a broader ambition and the company plans to open its technology to other wholesale markets, in France and then abroad. For this, it is used to industrialize its technological bricks and adapt them to new operational contexts. If the geographic extension does not constitute an immediate priority, it is clearly part of the medium -term strategy. The software infrastructure was thought from the outset to facilitate its deployment in other logistical ecosystems.
“This fundraising will allow us to cross an essential course. Deploy our technology on a large scale and accelerate the ecological transformation of the supply chain food, “specifies Simon Bussy, founder and CEO of califrais. He adds that artificial intelligence can make logistics that is both more efficient and more responsible, and that this conviction is verified every day on the ground.
The operation was accompanied by Coactiv Partners. It brings together the historic partners of the startup, including Stef, a European player in cold logistics, as well as new entrants in the food industry and the digital expert Gilles Babinet. “With rungismarket.com, califrais has proven that it was possible to offer a service that is both reliable, ultra-competitive and perfectly adapted to the needs of professionals in food trades” underlines Stéphane Layani, president of the international Rungis market.
The fundraising amounts to 10 million euros. It will allow Califis to strengthen its investments in R&D, to industrialize its internal technologies and to prepare the extension of its logistics platform beyond the current perimeter. The company remains focused on its operational anchoring but now traces the contours of a larger architecture, on a national and European scale.
