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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

grocery delivery

Spain’s Glovo Lands €450M to Expand Its Dark Convenience Store Delivery Business

Delivery service Glovo announced today it has raised €450 million (~$528 million USD) in Series F funding. The round was led by Lugard Road Capital and the Luxor Capital Group, with participation from returning investors Delivery Hero, Drake Enterprises, and GP Bullhound. 

Barcelona, Spain-based Glovo says that this fundraise — its largest to date — will go towards expanding Glovo’s reach in the 20 markets in which the company already operates. In particular, the company will expand its Q-Commerce, aka ghost convenience store, division in these areas. 

Customers order online from these convenience stores, which carry food and household items and deliver goods to customers in 30 minutes or less. Glovo launched its concept of the dark convenience store delivery in 2019 as a way to stand out from other delivery services, most of which were focused primarily on restaurant food at the time. Glovo said today it can provide delivery in 10 minutes or less in some urban areas, and that it anticipates “a permanent shift in consumer habits towards same-day and instant delivery.”

Recent funding in the realm of super-quick delivery suggests the same. In Europe, that includes Berlin-based Gorillas, which raised $290 million in March, Italy’s Everli, which just raised $100 million, and Rohlik, a Czech Republic-based company that recently nabbed $230 million. Activity (and investment) is equally big in the states, notably with Fridge No More’s $15.4 million fundraise and a whopping $1.5 billion for GoPuff last month.

Glovo plans to have 200 dark convenience stores running by the end of 2021. Currently, they are in Barcelona and Madrid in Spain as well as Lisbon, Portugal and Milan, Italy. Future stores are planned for Valencia, Spain; Porto, Portugal; Rome, Italy; and Bucharest, Romania.

As part of this q-commerce growth, Glovo will also build up its deals with major supermarkets. Right now, its roster of stores includes Carrefour, Continente, and Kaufland.

Grocery Apps Remain Popular with VCs as Everli, Nice Tuan and Zapp Raise Money

Given the frothy state of funding, it feels like there is a giant online supermarket stocked full of grocery-related startups and VCs are just wandering the aisles, filling up their baskets with companies promising to revolutionize the way we get our food.

At the beginning of March, we wrote about a single 12-hour period in which four grocery startups got funding (Instacart, Crisp, Rohlik and Flink). And it seems that VCs were just getting warmed up. Since that day, we’ve seen a number of grocery startups raise money including Stor.AI, Fridge No More, Jiffy, Shelf Engine, Weee!, Gorillas, Getir and GoPuff.

That list has grown once again this week as three more grocery startups have raised rounds of funding:

Everli, which is kind of like a European Instacart facilitating grocery pickup and delivery from local stores, raised a $100 million Series C round of funding led by Verlinvest (hat tip: TechCrunch).

Nice Tuan, a Chinese app that focuses on community grocery shopping received a $750 million investment round led by Alibaba Group Holding and DST Global (hat tip: Deal Street Asia).

Zapp, a London-based operator of delivery-only stores has received an undisclosed round of funding, TechCrunch reports from multiple sources.

There are couple things of note from this round of news. First is that European speedy delivery startups remain popular with investors right now, especially London-based ones. Zapp faces competition from the likes of Weezy, Jiffy, Getir and Gorillas.

Second is that these funding rounds are no joke. Nice Tuan’s $750 million haul follows fellow Chinese grocery app Xingsheng Youxuan’s $2 billion funding round in February. In the U.S., goPuff raised $1.5 billion, In Europe Gorillas raised $290 million and Getir raised $300 million (evidently startups starting with the letter “G” are also popular).

How long with this frothiness continue? That’s unclear. Will startups like Weezy or Fridge No More, whose funding is only in the double digit millions feel pressure to raise more to compete? And what about the overall grocery delivery space? The pandemic forced record amounts of grocery e-commerce, but a market correction is predicted for this year bringing those numbers back down to earth. But many of these startups are looking to change the way we grocery shop altogether by turning it into more of an always-on utility. Will people adopt speedy delivery as their new norm?

We don’t have a particular crystal ball for that, but we at The Spoon will chronicle it all as the market unfolds.

Turkey: Getir Raises $300M to Get People Groceries in Ten Minutes

Turkish on-demand grocery delivery startup Getir announced on Friday that it had raised a $300 million Series C round of funding. The new round was led by Sequoia Capital and existing investor Tiger Global, and comes just months after Getir finalized a $128 million Series B investment round. The company has raised $470 million to date.

Getir is part of the current crop of startups that promise super speedy grocery delivery. Getir operates a number of smaller distribution centers that are set up in different neighborhoods within a city. Users order items via an app and couriers are dispatched to complete deliveries in roughly 10 minutes.

In February, Getir expanded to offer delivery in London, and the company says it will use its new funding to expand into The Netherlands, Germany and France. But it will face competition as it does so, as a number of speedy grocery delivery startups in Europe have received funding recently. In London, Weezy and Jiffy offer similar services. And in Germany, Gorillas just closed a $290 million round last week for its own Euro expansion.

As we covered last week, all of these startups (plus the ones in the U.S. like GoPuff and Fridge No More) are all angling to change the way consumers view grocery shopping. By providing delivery in 10 minutes or less, companies essentially turn groceries into a utility that is available on tap. Shoppers could literally get groceries multiple times a day to fulfill a need or even just on a whim because they want something.

It’s still very early stages for all of these startups however, and it remains to be seen if and how customers will respond to such a service, and how far these types of services can scale. Can speedy delivery only work in dense urban environments? And as more players compete, how many micro-groceries stores does one neighborhood need? Given the rate of funding in the space, I assume we’ll find out pretty fast.

Germany: Gorillas Raises $290 Million for its Dark Grocery Store Chain

Gorillas, which operates a chain of dark grocery stores that offer fast delivery, has raised a $290 million Series B round of funding, according to TechCrunch. The round was led by Coatue Management, DST Global, and Tencent, with Green Oaks, Fifth Wall, Dragoneer, and Atlantic Food Labs also participated. Gorillas raised a $44 million Series A round of funding in December of 2020.

The Berlin-based Gorillas is among a cohort of startups building out small, delivery-only grocery stores deep inside residential neighborhoods. Thess dark stores carry a limited inventory (that can be customized per neighborhood location), and have a limited delivery radius, so orders can be fulfilled and dropped off, usually in less than fifteen minutes. Gorillas currently operates stores in more than 12 cities across Europe including Berlin, Munich, Amsterdam and London.

A funding round this big and this fast following a recent Series A for a grocery related startup is not at all surprising. As noted, Gorillas is just one player in the speedy grocery delivery space. Similar startups in Europe that have recently raised funding include Weezy, Jiffy, and Flink. Here in the U.S., DoorDash is building out a chain of DashMart stores, Fridge No More is making deliveries in New York City, and GoPuff, which delivers many household items in addition to groceries, raised $1.5 billion this week.

As we have written a lot lately, the big question for these stores is whether they can scale. On paper, the ability to get last-minute groceries delivered in just minutes is great. But it also needs a certain population density to make the economics work, and we have yet to see those economics scale on a national level. If Gorillas can use its funding to do so, then it could become, well, an 800 lbs gorilla in the space.

GoPuff Raises $1.5 Billion to Deliver You Goods in Under a Half Hour Around the Clock

GoPuff, the service that delivers food and other goods in under a half hour any time of day, announced today that it has raised $1.5 billion in new funding. Investors in the round include D1 Capital Partners, Fidelity Management and Research Company, Baillie Gifford, Eldridge, Reinvent Capital, Luxor Capital and SoftBank Vision Fund 1. This brings goPuff’s total amount of funding to roughly $2.5 billion.

GoPuff operates more than 250 micro-fulfillment centers that service more than 650 cities in the U.S. These fulfillment centers stock groceries, alcohol, pet supplies and other household goods for home delivery 24 hours a day. Because these micro-fulfillment centers are delivery only, they can be placed deeper within residential areas and closer to customers to facilitate fast delivery. GoPuff doesn’t guarantee 30-minute delivery, but says that’s the average time it takes to fulfill an order.

The company made headlines in November of last year when it acquired brick and mortar retailer BevMo for $350 million. Not only did that acquisition give goPuff access to BevMo’s customers, it also provided 161 physical stores from which goPuff could establish new micro-fulfillment centers.

This funding almost feels like the apotheosis of the dark store/fast delivery trend we’ve been watching for the past few month. Since the beginning of the year, a number of startups promising grocery delivery in as little as fifteen minutes have gotten funding including Weezy, Fridge No More and Jiffy. GoPuff’s $1.5 billion haul, however, blows all those other funding rounds out of the water.

With is warchest now bursting at the seams, you have to wonder if DoorDash is going to step up its own dark convenience store ambitions. The company launched its DashMart delivery only stores last year, but has been quiet about their rollout since.

The concept of dark grocery stores with super-fast delivery is a new concept, and honestly, it is something that will only work in dense residential areas where multiple orders can be completed per hour. But if the concept catches on, these startups are poised to change our relationship with grocery shopping. Baking cookies and realize you’re out of sugar? A few taps on your phone and fifteen minutes later you have it. Guests coming over and you’re out of wine? A few more taps and problem solved. Groceries, in this scenario, become a utility, always on and available any time of day or night.

Online Grocery Weee! Raises $315M Series D Round

Weee!, an online grocer with a focus on Asian and Hispanic communities, announced today that it has raised a $315 million Series D round of funding. The round was led by existing investor DST Global, with participation from new investors including funds managed by Blackstone, Arena Holdings, and Tiger Global. Weee! has raised more than $415 million in funding in total.

Founded in 2015, Weee! initially offered products for the Asian community, but the company recently added Hispanic foods to its roster. In its press announcement today, the company referred to itself as an “Ethinic Grocer,” and said it serves 14 key regions across the country. According to Weee! website, the company offers more than 3,500 products and has fulfilled more than 8.8 million orders.

Weee!’s funding comes during what appears to be salad days for investment in grocery-related startups. A raft of startups in the space have raised big funding amounts just since the start of the year. Part of the reason for all of this frothiness, of course, is the pandemic. With restaurants closed, and various lockdowns, record numbers of people turned to buying food online last year and retailers of all sizes scrambled to keep up.

What’s worth noting with Wee!’s funding is how the online grocery market is starting to segment. In addition to more general grocery startups like Instacart and Good Eggs getting funded, we are starting to see more focused startups raise lots of money too. Weezy and Fridge No More create hyperlocal stores that offer fifteen minute delivery, Imperfect Foods focuses on food surplus and rescue, and Weee! focuses on specific demographic audiences.

The question now is whether that is all money well spent. We’ve already seen a drop in the use of grocery e-commerce between January and February of this year. As more people get vaccinated and feel free to move about more, will they stop their online food buying habits in favor of getting out of the house and back into the store?

Wee!’s focus on serving Asian and Hispanic communities could actually help it weather any potential downturn in the grocery e-commerce market. By offering delivery of items that may not be stocked at general grocery stores in suburbs across the country, Weee! could become a go-to resource for Asian and Hispanic communities looking for particular types of food, but unable to get it at their local retailer.

With its new funding, Weee! says it will continue to add products and features and expand nationwide, with plans to reach 30 cities across North America by 2024.

Fridge No More Raises $15.4M for 15-Minute Grocery Delivery in NYC

Fifteen minutes is the new hour, or so it seems in the grocery delivery game. New York City startup Fridge No More announced today that it has closed a $15.4 million Series A round of funding. The round was led by Insight Partners with participation from existing investors including Altair Capital.

Fridge No More operates small, hyperlocal delivery-only grocery stores and currently serves the Williamsburg, Park Slope and Gowanus neighborhoods in Brooklyn. Typical Fridge No More stores are roughly 2,000 – 3,000 sq. ft. and house just 2,000 SKUs. The delivery radius for each store is approximately one mile, and done on scooter or bike by actual store employees. Orders are placed via iOS or Android app and are manually picked, packed and delivered to the customer within fifteen minutes.

In addition to providing super fast service, there are no minimum orders and no delivery fees. Fridge No More is able to do this because they don’t spend a lot of money on the stores themselves. Since dark stores don’t service in-person customers, they can be tucked away in cheaper locations like basements or other odd spaces, there is no checkout that needs to be set up and there are no cashiers to pay.

Another benefit of creating these smaller stores is that they can tailor the inventory to that particular neighborhood. Fridge No More doesn’t need to stock everything, it can figure out which items sell the most and stock those.

Fridge No More’s approach is similar to that of both Weezy in the U.K. and Gorillas over in Germany, both of which also raised significant funding this year.

As we’ve covered previously, the online grocery sector has been getting a lot of love from investors this year. Online grocery related startups around the world are raising lots of money. In fact, this is our second grocery e-commerce related funding announcement today (Stor.ai raised $21 million).

As we’ve also covered before, the big reason for this is the pandemic, which forced a lot of people to shift from in-person shopping to more contactless online grocery shopping. And with online grocery sales projected to reach $250 billion by 2025, I’m sure we’ll be covering a lot more announcements over the rest of this year.

One aspect worth noting is Fridge No More’s name. Obviously its hyperbole, but if these types of super-fast grocery services catch on, how will they change grocery shopping (at least in dense urban areas where a one-mile delivery radius contains a ton of business). Will people stock up on less and just have speedy delivery on speed dial? Will they just make multiple orders throughout the day if they forgot or suddenly need something?

More New Yorkers will find out soon enough as Fridge No More will use its new funding to scale up operations in that city, before moving into more locations on the East Coast.

Albertsons Partners with Tortoise for Remote Controlled Robot Delivery

Grocery giant Albertsons announced today that it has partnered with Tortoise to pilot remote-controlled robot grocery delivery at two Safeway stores in Northern California.

Tortoise is a little different from other players in the robot delivery space. First, the Tortoise bot is bigger than other rover bots. It can carry 120 pounds and is meant to haul a week’s worth of groceries. Second, the Tortoise is not meant for on-demand delivery, but rather scheduled drop offs (like a weekly grocery order). Finally Tortoise is different because it is eschewing autonomous driving for full teleoperation of its robots, meaning there is a human always remotely in control as the robot travels from store to door.

Tortoise Co-Founder and President, Dmitry Shevelenko, told me by phone today that Safeway will be using the second generation Tortoise bot, which has improved functionality and a flatbed carrying platform. Orders will be placed inside Safeway-branded containers that have Bluetooth locks. Eventually, Shevelenko said that these containers will be motorized, which will allow them to slide off the flatbed of the robot and sit outside a person’s home so groceries can be dropped off even when someone isn’t there.

Safeway’s first Tortoise tests will be in the northern California towns Tracy and Windsor. As Shevelenko pointed out, these suburban locations are actually significant because it shows robot delivery is “not just an urban phenomenon.” This type of suburban location is also being targeted by Refraction and its rugged three-wheeled, bike lane-riding robot.

During these Safeway tests, Tortoise robots will be accompanied by humans, which is not uncommon as city and local government figure out how to safely deploy robots on public city sidewalks. For instance, Postmates’ autonomous Serve robot still has a human escort while making deliveries in the West Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles.

The Tortoise partnership is just the latest in a string of automation moves for Albertsons. The company is expanding the use of robotic micro-fulfillment of e-commerce orders in the Bay Area, and more recently, it started testing a robotic kiosk in Chicago for automated curbside pickup.

Tortoise is the latest robot delivery company to officially hit the road making commercial deliveries. In addition to Postmates and Refraction, Starship and Kiwibot are also scurrying around Modesto and San Jose, respectively. For a broader picture of the robot delivery space, check out The Delivery Robot Market Report I wrote for our Spoon Plus member service.

Online Grocer Good Eggs Raises $100M, Plans Southern California Expansion

Online grocer Good Eggs announced today that it has raised $100 million in new funding. The round was led by Glade Brook Capital Partners with participation from GV, Tao Invest, Finistere Ventures, and Rich’s, as well as existing investors Benchmark Partners, Index Ventures, S2G, DNS Capital, and Obvious Ventures. This brings the total amount raised by Good Eggs to roughly $170 million.

This new funding comes after a record-breaking year for online grocery sales thanks to the pandemic. While the numbers have tapered off from their highs, the various pandemic lockdowns have lasted long enough for shoppers to form new grocery-buying habits. The online grocery market is projected to grow over the next four years and take up 21.5 percent of total grocery sales.

Bentley Hall, CEO of Good Eggs, told me during an interview this week that his company has benefited from this growth in online grocery. Hall said that in 2020 Good Eggs, which currently only operates in the California [SAN FRANCISCO] Bay Area, moved to a bigger warehouse facility, hired more than 400 new employees and saw its revenues surpass $100 million.

As part of today’s announcement, Good Eggs also said it has appointed Vineet Mehra as the company’s new Chief Growth and Customer Experience Officer. Prior to Good Eggs, Mehra was Global Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Customer Officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance. Mehra will oversee Good Eggs’ expansion into Southern California.

Hall didn’t specify where in Southern California his company would be expanding to first, only saying that by the end of 2022 Good Eggs would be serving two of the following three regions: Los Angeles, Orange County and Northern San Diego.

The boom in online grocery is bringing with it increased competition for Good Eggs. The company will face pressure from giants that are greatly ramping up their grocery activities. Walmart is adding more automation to fulfill online grocery orders faster and Amazon has already opened six physical Fresh supermarkets around Los Angeles/Southern California.

Hall indicated that the company isn’t currently looking at automation at its facility to speed up order fulfillment, but he does see a future where the company offers curbside pickup options in addition to its delivery program.

Kroger Building Ocado-Powered Warehouse in Phoenix, AZ

Kroger announced on Friday that it will build out its next automated customer fulfillment center (CFC) in Phoenix, AZ. This marks Kroger’s first robot-powered warehouse in the U.S. Southwest region.

These CFCs use robotic technology from UK grocery Ocado (which Kroger is an investor in). Online orders are assembled automatically inside the center through a series of totes on rails, and packaged up for delivery.

Kroger announced a few years back that it would build out 20 such warehouses across the U.S., and has since started work on sites in a number of different locations including: Monroe, OH, Groveland, FL, Forest Park, GA, Dallas, TX, and Pleasant Prairie, WI, Frederick, MD, Romulus, MI, as well as the Pacific Northwest, Great Lakes and West Regions. The first Kroger CFC is expected to open in Monroe this year.

Ocado Robotic System For Kroger

Grocery e-commerce, which got a boost last year thanks to the pandemic, is expected to become the new normal for many shoppers. Online grocery is projected to grow over the coming years and take up 21.5 percent of overall grocery sales by 2025.

As such, grocery retailers are building out a variety of automated systems to keep up with that increased demand. While Kroger is building out these centralized delivery warehouses that serve large areas of customers, others are taking a more local approach. Albertsons built out micro-fulfillment centers in the backs of two of its Bay Area stores, and is expanding to more. And Texas grocery chain H-E-B is adding automated micro-fulfillment to a number of its locations.

Kroger’s CFCs are the opposite of “micro” fulfillment. The forthcoming Phoenix facility will be 200,000 sq. ft., and will open 24 months after groundbreaking to support customers across Arizona.

Weezy Raises $20M Series A for Fast Grocery Delivery

UK-based speedy grocery delivery service Weezy has raised a $20 million Series A round of funding. TechCrunch was first to report the news, writing that the round was led by New York-based Left Lane Capital, with participation from DN Capital, existing investors Heartcore Capital and angel investors. Today’s funding announcement follows a $1 million pre-Seed round raised by Weezy in August of last year.

Weezy promises grocery delivery in as little as 15 minutes, thanks to its network of smaller fulfillment centers that are nestled within neighborhoods, closer to shoppers. Orders are then delivered via a network of its delivery people riding electric scooters or bicycles.

Weezy operates in London and will use the cash to expand to more neighborhoods in that city and across the U.K. As TechCrunch notes, the presence of a U.S.-based lead investor could indicate that a hop across the pond to the states could be in the offing.

Speedy European grocery delivery appears to be a sector that’s heating up for venture capital. Last month, Germany-based Gorillas raised $44 million for its similar, smaller fulfillment center approach to grocery delivery.

Here in the U.S. we see companies such as Fabric building out small automated grocery fulfillment centers and DoorDash building out a network of dark convenience stores that are delivery only.

It’s no wonder that money is flowing into online grocery services. The pandemic pushed record amounts of people into e-grocery shopping last year. With the virus still raging across the globe and subsequent lockdowns, online grocery shopping remains sticky with consumers, who are now habituated to new purchasing behaviors.

Walmart to Test Grocery Delivery to Smart Home Lockers

Walmart announced today that it will start testing grocery delivery to smart lockers that sit outside a person’s home. The pilot program will begin this Spring in Bentonville, Arkansas.

The smart lockers are built by Home Valet and feature three temperature zones (frozen, refrigerated and fresh). When a grocery delivery order is placed with Walmart, the delivery driver unlocks the box with a smart device, and places the groceries inside. Customers unlock the box when they return home and retrieve their items.

This smart locker approach could actually benefit Walmart shoppers in a few ways. First, customers get more flexibility because they don’t need to be/stay at home when their delivery is scheduled. Second, it secures groceries away from the elements and potential porch thieves. And finally, this delivery method is contactless, which will continue to be important even after the pandemic recedes. (Bonus benefit: Dropping off groceries to a box outside your house is a lot less creepy than Walmart’s idea of having a delivery driver enter your house when you aren’t there.)

But the smart locker is just the latest aggressive move by Walmart to make its delivery more convenient as it dukes it out with other retailers like Amazon and Kroger for your grocery dollar. In addition to launching its Walmart+ delivery service last year, Walmart is also testing grocery delivery via drones and autonomous vehicles.

Walmart can’t afford to rest on its laurels. Online grocery shopping is projected to hit $250 billion by 2025, accounting for 21.5 percent of all grocery sales. As such, everyone in the space is testing new programs to get you your groceries faster. Kroger is set to open the first of its robot-powered automated fulfillment centers this year. Albertsons recently debuted an automated curbside pickup kiosk. And Amazon will drop off groceries inside your garage when you’re out.

Walmart’s smart locker reminded me of a patent that Amazon was issued a couple years back for a robot that would live at your house, and then autonomously venture out to retrieve packages from a nearby pickup hub.

This might be a little overkill, but it’s not hard to imagine a time when Walmart’s smart locker sprouts wheels and goes to pick up your groceries. Walmart is already automating the middle-mile for delivery, so it’s not a big mental leap for your grocery being autonomously driven from a fulfillment center to a neighborhood hub. Once your order arrives at that hub, your smart locker drives over to get your groceries and drives them back to your doorstep to await being put in your kitchen.

That particular vision is still a ways away, but given how much retailers are investing in delivery infrastructure, it’s not that far off in the future.