Food delivery, the eldorado of investment funds

Startups that deliver groceries home in the shortest possible time are the new promised land for investment funds. Especially and obviously since the coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the shift to online shopping. According to data from Pitchbook, venture capital-backed food companies have already raised over $ 10 billion in 2021, up significantly from the $ 7 billion raised last year. In the United States, Instacart was valued at $ 39 billion overall, while Gopuff raised funds to reach a valuation of $ 8.9 billion. In China, Xingsheng Youxuan raised $ 3 billion this year, the largest round of funding for a grocery start-up to date. In Europe in the last year they have sprung up like mushrooms advertising 10-20 minute deliveries: Getir, Gorillas, Weezy, Flink, Zapp and Dija, just to name a few. And the big names in technology and home delivery such as Amazon could move to shop. Even if, on closer inspection, especially in countries such as the United Kingdom, the sector of home delivery of foodstuffs, although growing significantly, does not yet occupy such a significant percentage of sales: according to Nielsen data, we are talking about a 16% of the country’s food sales. Prices are certainly higher and this puts them in direct competition especially with small traders and convenience stores rather than with large supermarkets. Turkey’s Getir, which is rapidly expanding in Europe and plans to start operations in the United States this year after raising new funds in a round that raised the company’s value to $ 7.5 billion, is banking on a concept simple: people have the right to laziness.While Galoppa also sent Helbiz, a company based in the United States but founded by Italian managers also present in the micro-mobility sector, which has just created Helbiz Kitchen in Milan, dedicated to preparation and delivery delivery of dishes and courses. They are called Ghost Kitchen and they supply “everything owned, from the kitchens, to the vehicles, to the Information Technologies department, to the fully hired staff”. Bellboys dressed in a recognizable butler style and eco-friendly service chain, from the procurement of raw materials to food preparation and delivery: the service is already active for pizza, hamburgers, salads, pokes, sushi and ice cream, even in a single order, with a single transaction and a single delivery.