Discount grocer Motatos, the D2C ecommerce business tackling global food waste, has raised £33m (€38m), in its latest series C funding round, taking its total funding to £122m (€130m).
The funding will be used to accelerate growth in key markets Germany and the UK, while also developing the business model and customer offer across all markets.
“Taking care of the resources let into production – for the climate’s and the consumer wallet’s sake is not only common sense, but is really very urgent,” said founder and ceo Karl Andersson.
“Ultimately, this injection of capital allows us to accelerate the sustainable shift in the food and retail sectors in major European markets.”
Motatos is currently backed by a number of private equity Swedish and European investors as well as London-based Blume Equity. However, this latest financing round – which saw funds being raised through a directed new share issue to existing shareholders – was led by existing investors SEB Private Equity and Exor Capital.
The Swedish retailer – which claims to be 60% cheaper than Aldi and Lidl – launched in the UK earlier this year, offering shoppers reduced prices on excess inventory from a range of wholesalers and distributors.
The online-only redistribution supermarket – which is known as Matsmart across the rest of Europe – was founded in 2014 as a way to fight the problem of global food waste by limiting the amount that ends up in landfill.
Since then, the Swedish business has expanded into Denmark, Finland, Germany and the UK, offering consumers “well-known products that would otherwise risk ending up in landfill”. It’s performed well, with a total revenue of £59 (€68m) last year and is on track to hit £86m (€100m) this year.
A number of Motatos’ existing investors have also participated in the current funding round alongside SEB Private Equity and Exor Capital, including Gullspång Re:food invest and Blume Equity.
