Rosie, which provides an online marketplace for local grocery stores, announced today that it has raised a $10 million Series A round of funding. The round was led by Avenue Growth Partners and brings the total amount raised by Rosie to nearly $12 million.
Founded in 2012 and based in Ithaca, NY, Rosie is an e-commerce platform that allows smaller and independent grocers to sell their wares digitally. Users download the Rosie app and select from local grocery stores available in their area. Customers shop for groceries as they would through any such app and schedule a time for either pickup or delivery (this option seems dependent on the retailer).
According to the press announcement, Rosie works with “hundreds” of retailers across the country. The company said it experienced a 900 percent increase in the number of stores signed up for the service during the pandemic.
Rosie is certainly raising money at the right time. Grocery e-commerce experienced massive growth last year thanks to the pandemic. With various levels of quarantines and lockdowns happening over the past 12 months, digital grocery shopping has become a new habit for many U.S. consumers. Online grocery is projected to be 21.5 percent of total grocery sales by 2025.
Because of this boost in e-commerce, we’ve seen all the big players make moves to grab more of your grocery dollars. Walmart, Amazon, Target, Albertsons and Kroger have all made major moves to expand shopping options, increase pickup and delivery, and speed up order fulfillment.
There are a number of startups, however, working to help make sure smaller grocers don’t get left behind. Similar to Rosie, Mercato is another platform that gives independent stores the ability to sell goods online. On the delivery side, Dumpling is building out a network of small business, independent grocery delivery services.
Rosie’s news comes on the heels of online grocer Good Eggs announcing a $100 million fundraise earlier this week. Given the growth in e-commerce, expect a steady stream of similar funding announcements throughout the year.
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