Pan For You
Frozen bread platform connecting local Japanese bakeries.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
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| - | investor | €0.0 | round |
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| investor investor investor investor investor investor | €0.0 | round | |
N/A | Series B | ||
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
Pan For You is a Japanese food-tech startup that operates a platform to resolve operational and market expansion challenges for local bakeries through proprietary freezing technology and IT. The company was founded on January 17, 2017, by Kenta Yano, who currently serves as the CEO. Yano, a graduate of Kyoto University's Faculty of Economics, previously worked at Dentsu and an educational venture before getting involved with a non-profit organization in his hometown, which sparked his interest in revitalizing local economies. This experience became the foundation for Pan For You's mission to create new, appealing jobs in regional areas. In 2018, the company underwent an MBO, shifting its business model to the current one focused on delivering frozen bread from local bakeries.
The company's business model is built around creating a "new bread economy," connecting producers, sellers, and consumers. It leverages a patented freezing technology that preserves the taste and quality of freshly baked bread, allowing distribution across Japan without requiring bakeries to make significant capital investments. Pan For You operates several services: "Pansuku," a direct-to-consumer subscription service delivering a curated box of frozen bread from various bakeries nationwide ; "Pan For You Office," a corporate welfare service that provides offices with freezers stocked with bread ; and "Pan For You Biz," a B2B platform for businesses like restaurants and hotels to procure frozen bread. The company also offers a digital gift certificate service called "Zenkoku Pan Kyotsu-ken."
Pan For You has successfully raised capital to fuel its growth, with a Series B funding round in June 2022 bringing in approximately 600 million JPY and pushing its total funding to about 1 billion JPY. Key investors include Kirin Health Innovation Fund, Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, and KDDI Regional Initiatives Fund. The company aims to expand its services, enhance marketing, and develop products for the health and wellness sector.
Keywords: frozen bread, bakery platform, food-tech, subscription service, D2C, B2B food, corporate welfare, local bakery support, food logistics, Japanese startup, Pansuku, Kenta Yano, bakery DX, food delivery, artisan bread, e-commerce, office pantry, OEM bread, food subscription box, regional revitalization