Buymie, a same-day grocery delivery startup that partners with retailers including Lidl and The Co-Op, has raised €5.8m to fund expansion plans and meet the increasing demand for home delivery accelerated by the coronavirus pandemic.
It brings the total funding raised this year to more than €8m. The Dublin-headquartered firm is a leading eCommerce player in Ireland and plans to use the cash injection to fund expansion plans into the UK.
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Buymie recently launched in the Bristol metropolitan area in a partnership with The Co-Op and other UK retailers. It is considering 15 other UK launch locations.
Founded in 2015, the Buymie app integrates with its retail partners to offer grocery deliveries to consumers in as little as one hour.
Buymie said its business had expanded “dramatically” in the past 18 months. More recently, it has seen accelerated growth during the coronavirus pandemic as more consumers have turned to online food shopping.
According to its own figures, Lidl Ireland online customers have been growing by as much as 39% month-on-month.
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By GlobalDataThe firm faces fierce competition from the likes of Amazon, which offers same-day grocery deliveries to Prime members.
Buymie funding: “Nimble and scaleable approach”
Wheatsheaf Group, the food and agriculture investment arm of the Grosvenor Estate, led the funding round as a first-time investor.
Contributions came from existing backers Act Venture Capital, Sure Valley Ventures, Haatch Ventures, and HBAN.
Individual investors included Keith Weed, former chief marketing and communications officer for Unilever, and Scott Weavers Wright, former managing director of Morrisons.com.
“This funding round will help Buymie achieve our goal of becoming the leading same-day grocery delivery provider across the UK and Ireland,” said Devan Hughes, CEO and co-founder of Buymie.
“More and more customers are frustrated by the long waiting times offered by conventional grocery delivery services and delighted with our solution that can deliver groceries in as little as one hour. The success of our Lidl partnership has demonstrated just how much appetite there is for our service, and how important seamless delivery is to retailers’ reputations.”
Katrin Burt, managing director at Wheatsheaf added: “We are excited by the potential for Buymie to lead in same-day grocery delivery across the UK and Ireland with its nimble and scalable approach. The investment aligns with Wheatsheaf’s goals to empower consumers with high quality and sustainable food choices and builds on our growing portfolio throughout the food and agriculture supply chain.”
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