Foodtech startup Deliveristo has secured a fresh slice of funding, taking home €7 million of new investment. The Italian company is targeting the HOspitality, REtail and CAtering (Ho.Re.Ca) space and quickly leading establishing itself as a market leader.
Foodtech is becoming one of the more active areas of investment across Europe at the moment. It’s an area full of different innovations and space to grow – from developing food alternatives to food delivery options. Then there’s the different customer base – businesses can choose to go down the B2C route or B2B. We’ve seen significant investments recently in the B2C delivery market, but what about the B2B2 sector? Specifically, for the Ho.Re.Ca space?
The supply chain for HOspitality, REtail and CAtering (Ho.Re.Ca) has been steadily undergoing a process of digitisation, but investment has been slower here than in the corresponding B2C area. It’s a market with big potential and now, Milan-based Deliveristo is taking it on – and they’ve just bagged up €7 million to do it.
Ivan Aimo, CEO & Co-Founder of Deliveristo, said: “As we continue our journey, we realize how much this sector still needs digitization and innovation. The goal of this round is to offer more and better services to suppliers and restaurateurs, to validate the model in other countries and to prepare the company for a significant round of expansion, on which we will start working right away.”
Deliveristo: B2B foodtech marketplace
Launched in 2019 by Ivan Aimo, Luca Calia and Gabriele Angeleri, Deliversityo is a foodtech marketplace connecting restaurant owners and suppliers. The Milan-based startup is on a mission to innovate and digitize the Ho.Re.Ca. supply chain.
The Ho.Re.Ca. food spending represents about 30% of the total market, exceeding an estimated value of €24 billion in Italy and €155 billion in Europe in 2019.
Through Deliveristo’s platform and app, chefs and restaurateurs have access to a constantly growing catalogue of food and beverage products, which today counts over 60.000 quality items from over 350 Italian suppliers. Operators can access the catalogue, which also includes artisanal and local products, quickly and easily, select what they want and receive the products directly to their restaurant or bar.
At the same time, suppliers, which include both producers and distributors, can increase visibility and turnover by selling products to over 1.300 subscribers to the platform, including chefs, restaurants, shops and the new “delivery only” businesses like dark, ghost or cloud kitchens.
Alessandro Pontari, Investment Director of Vertis commented: “While the B2C food delivery market is in a consolidation phase, the B2B segment represents a huge opportunity in Europe and around the world. There is not a market leader yet and the supply chain is still managed in a traditional manor, relying on text messages and calls to the suppliers. Deliveristo has a unique positioning in the process of innovation and digitization of the Ho.Re.Ca. operators, which in Italy spends more than €24 billion every year to purchase food & beverage products. Being a “pure software marketplace”, Deliveristo has a lean cost structure and scalable business model. Its experienced team has proven its execution capacity and has achieved excellent results. Deliveristo has also a positive impact in terms of sustainability, bringing reduction of food waste, greater transparency in the supply chain and lower CO2 emissions related to transport”.”
To date, Deliveristo’s customer base is primarily located in the cities of Milan, Turin, Rome, Bologna and Florence, while the supplier base is located throughout Italy – it’s growing fast and picking up investor attention.
The Funding
This €7 million investment round was led by Vertis, Italian venture capital and private equity firm, through “Vertis Venture 5 Scaleup” fund. Other investors of the round are United Ventures SGR, through “United Ventures II” fund, which led Deliveristo’s €4,5 million Series A round in December 2020, Azimut Libera Impresa SGR, through “Azimut Digitech Fund” fund, Italian Angels for Growth (IAG), Gellify Digital Investments, Doorway and other business angels.
Ivan Aimo: “We are pleased to welcome Vertis SGR, Azimut Digitech Fund and other new investors, as well as grateful to United Ventures and previous investors for continuing to support the platform we are building.”
The funding will be used to consolidate Deliveristo’s position within the Italian market before expanding across Europe. It will also support the launch of new services for customers and suppliers, from data-driven marketing to payments services.
Sara Lovato, Investment Manager of United Ventures, added: “We are thrilled to continue to support Deliveristo, after leading the previous series A round. The team has demonstrated its value and capability and the business model has proven to be resilient and very scalable in the B2B food delivery market, with great potential but still not fully digitalized. The excellent results achieved confirmed our expectations and we are confident in the company’s growth path.”
