The deal, which brings together two of Europe’s biggest instant grocery players, values the combined group at $10 billion.
From old timers with mega deals to up-and-comers just entering the space, here are the ghost kitchen startups leading the pack of a growing if somewhat controversial segment of the food industry.
The deal strengthens the companies’ business model of selling surplus and ‘ugly’ foods to consumers at discounted prices.
Ghost kitchens operator from Uber founder Travis Kalanick, CloudKitchens, raised a whopping $850m in 2021, including backing from Microsoft.
Alternative protein and eGrocery grabbed the bulk of the top 15 deals in 2021, but midway through 2022, the future for one of them is far less certain.
China’s Furong Xingsheng and rapid delivery services in the US, Germany, and Turkey made eGrocery the most funded agrifoodtech category of 2021.
Square Roots will leverage URB-E’s fleet of last-mile, small electric vehicles to deliver vertically-grown greens faster and cheaper than traditional vans.
The Californian e-grocer will use the funds to expand its platform, which sells ‘hard-to-find’ Asian and Latin food, household, and beauty items.
Nuro and Google will additionally “explore opportunities together to strengthen and transform local commerce,” the Californian startup said.
Picnic dispatches groceries from strategically located, automated hubs to its customers’ doorsteps using electric minivans.
Both companies source fresh produce from farmers and agribusinesses and deliver it to consumers, who can order groceries through a mobile app.
Rakuten, Japan’s top e-commerce company, entered into a strategic alliance with Walmart in 2018 which saw the pair launch the country’s leading e-grocery service.
It’s environmentally clean, growing at double digits, and able to increase the convenience of doorstep grocery delivery, writes Manuel Gonzalez.
“We are excited to accelerate Seiyu’s digital transformation […] to become Japan’s leading omnichannel retailer,” said new CEO Tsuneo Okubo.
Bouyed by booming demand for e-grocery amid Covid-19 and some promising unit economics, Good Eggs is expanding beyond the Bay Area.
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