Nesto raises €11M

Nesto Software has raised €11 million to expand its artificial intelligence staffing software for restaurant groups across Europe. (eu-startups.com) The Karlsruhe, Germany, company said Monday, April 13, 2026, that Expedition Growth Capital led the growth-equity round. Nesto said it will use the money for product development and European expansion. (eu-startups.com) Nesto sells software for the back office of hospitality businesses: shift planning, time tracking, payroll preparation, employee communication, and demand forecasting. On its website, the company says the platform was built for restaurant and hotel chains, amusement parks, and travel catering. (nesto-software.com) The basic pitch is not a chatbot for diners. Nesto says its system predicts guest demand, turns that forecast into staffing plans, and adjusts schedules across locations where labor rules, opening hours, and job roles differ. (nesto-software.com) The company is also pushing NORA, an artificial intelligence assistant for personnel management. Nesto says managers and human resources teams can use NORA to handle recurring tasks by voice or text, including reports and administrative workflows. (bundesverband-systemgastronomie.de) That focus reflects where many restaurant operators still lose time and money. Nesto says overstaffing and understaffing both hurt margins, and that chain operators need one system that can standardize planning while still handling local variation. (nesto-software.com) Nesto said its software is already used at more than 3,000 restaurant locations in Europe and supports more than 100,000 employee shifts a day. Those figures place the company in a part of the artificial intelligence market aimed at labor operations rather than customer service. (completeaitraining.com) The company says it was founded in 2017 by operators and software developers who had dealt with staffing through spreadsheets, phone calls, and last-minute changes. Its current marketing describes the product as “workforce management with AI” for multi-site hospitality businesses. (nesto-software.com) Expedition Growth Capital describes itself as a London- and Boston-based growth-equity firm that makes €10 million to €30 million investments in software companies. Other reports on the deal said the fund targets bootstrapped European software businesses with more than €5 million in annual recurring revenue. (expedition.capital) (technewstube.com) For Nesto, the next step is less about replacing restaurant staff than automating the scheduling and rule-checking work around them. The new funding gives it more room to build that layer deeper into large hospitality operations. (eu-startups.com)