Deliveristo, the foodtech marketplace which connects restaurant owners and suppliers, has just closed a €4.5 million Series A funding round led by the Italian venture capital firm United Ventures. The equity investment completes the fundraising roundthat the company began in July of this year with a pool of other investors, including IAG, Gellify, Doorway, Seven (Angelomario Moratti) and Metrica (Michele Novelli).
The fresh capital will be used to support the platform’s further technological development and to expand the organisational structure, both nationally and in Europe.
Deliveristo has developed an online B2B delivery platform to simplify the Ho.Re.Ca. (Hotellerie, Restaurant, Café) industry, allowing digital ordering and purchasing directly from producers and distributors. The startup was founded in 2017 in Milan by Ivan Aimo (CEO), Luca Calia (COO), and Gabriele Angeleri (Head of Sales).
Deliveristo adopts a drop-shipping approach that doesn’t entail warehouse dynamics and costs, allowing a flexible and cost-effective logistics management and the possibility for restaurateurs to find all types of products with a potentially infinite catalog and a single point of billing. The cloud-based platform counts today more than 300 suppliers and 15.000 registered products. Thanks to the variety of products available, Deliveristo can reach both modern and traditional restaurants and it works also with stores and dark kitchens, which are particularly prone to the digitization of food services.
The foodtech sector continues to be one of the most active in terms of venture capital investments, both on a European and global level. The global target market (online food delivery) is booming, with a growth rate of 11.5% (CAGR 2020-2023) and an estimated value by 2023 of $154.3 billion.
Ivan Aimo, CEO of Deliveristo, commented: “The food industry is experiencing a moment of great change and we want to contribute more and more to its innovation, providing restaurateurs and suppliers with the technology they need to simplify their business. Food represents one of our country’s market pillars, we cannot afford to be left behind. The entry of United Ventures represents an important moment of growth for Deliveristo, we have been aligned on the vision from day one and we are sure that it can be the necessary added value to achieve the ambitious goals that the company has set.”
Paolo Gesess, Managing Partner of United Ventures, stated: “While the B2C food delivery market is populated by large players with a well-established positioning, the B2B segment is still completely to be digitized. Thanks to an ambitious and technically experienced team, and a lean and extremely scalable SaaS-driven and drop-shipping business model, we believe Deliveristo has great potential to stand out in the competitive landscape and become the reference platform for producers and restaurateurs looking to digitize their businesses. The food industry has been hit very hard by the pandemic, but in recent months has shown great resilience, creativity, and drive for technological innovation – which, we are convinced, will play a key role in the relaunch of the sector and the social and economic recovery of the country.”
