Irish grocery delivery startup Buymie has announced closing its latest funding round of €2.2 million from a consortium of investors, as well as signing a multi-year partnership agreement with Lidl Ireland.
Dublin-based Buymie, founded in 2015, provides shoppers with access to multiple large retailers, which it delivers right to their front door – a service that has only grown in popularity since the current pandemic started. The Buymie service is currently available to over 490,000 households throughout all of Dublin, as well as areas such as Maynooth, Celbridge, Leixlip, Bray and Greystones.
With the current demand for online services at unprecedented levels, Buymie has seen a 300% surge in downloads and in recent weeks many of its delivery slots are being booked 6-7 days in advance, with Buymie releasing new slots every day.
Consequently, like many online grocery markets, the startup has come under significant pressure to increase capacity. However, unlike other online supermarkets, Buymie has a unique approach – it does not require vans and warehouses and can scale its service in weeks rather than months. This is achieved by using state of the art platform technology and connectivity to connect consumers with a network of hundreds of independent personal shoppers who can pick and deliver items directly from retail stores all around the city.
Now thanks to its new deal with Lidl, which is an extension to their first direct partnership that began in January 2019, users can also choose from Lidl’s range of products to buy through the app. Commenting on the new extension deal, Alan Stewart, Head of eCommerce at Lidl Ireland said: “Lidl welcomes the extension of our successful partnership with Buymie. The ability to offer our increasing customer base more flexibility in how they shop has been warmly received by thousands of customers in Dublin and the surrounding areas. We’ve seen the number of monthly active customers using the service growing by as much as 39%+ month on month. We are looking forward to exploring options for further expansion over the coming years.”
The startup is also celebrating closing a round of €2.2 million, which was led by well-known venture capital firm Act Venture Capital with participation from Sure Valley Ventures and significant support from long term existing investor, Haatch Ventures. Other participating investors include Eamonn Quinn (Buymie’s Chairman), BVP Investments, Enterprise Ireland and a collection of strategic angel investors through HBAN’s Bloom Syndicate.
Commenting on the latest investment, ACT Venture Capital Partner, Debbie Rennick said: “There is increasing demand for convenience and faster delivery in the way people buy groceries online and we expect that trend to continue. Buymie has shown considerable growth and momentum in the Irish market over the last year, and are now well positioned to scale demand and expand internationally.”
Devan Hughes, CEO and co-founder of Buymie added: “We’re thrilled to be announcing this latest funding round as well as a further strengthening of our partnership with Lidl Ireland. The timing couldn’t be better given the current challenges faced by consumers in Ireland and worldwide with COVID-19. I feel that it is down to emerging indigenous businesses like ours to play a key role in shaping the Irish economy to prepare it for the way the world will work and how people will shop post COVID.”
