Haatch Ventures investee, Buymie raises €1.6m as Unilever Ventures Co-Founder joins board of directors

Highlights

• Haatch Ventures investee company has closed €1.6m in new venture funding, as well as the appointment of a new UK industry heavy hitter to its board of directors.
• This investment round, led by Haatch Ventures, also saw significant investment from HBAN, Ireland’s Halo Angel Business Network and EIS investment fund, BVP investments, with further participation from a number of Buymie’s existing shareholders.
• As part of the round, Buymie has also added former co-founder and partner of Unilever Ventures, Jan Harley, to its board of directors.

Buymie has today, announced the closure of €1.6m in new venture funding, as well as the appointment of a new UK industry heavy hitter to its board of directors.

Buymie has secured a further €1.6m to expand its service, having previously raised a seed funding round of €850k in 2018 prior to the launch of its partnership with Lidl Ireland.

Buymie’s cap table comprises of a number of major FMCG industry leaders, with investors such as former SuperQuinn Deputy Chairman, Eamonn Quinn leading the board as Chairman, Ireland’s largest CPG company, Unilever Plc, as well as Hatch Ventures, owned by Scott Weavers-Wright former CEO of Morrison’s.com.

This investment round, led by Haatch Ventures, also saw significant investment from HBAN, Ireland’s Halo Angel Business Network and EIS investment fund, BVP investments, with further participation from a number of Buymie’s existing shareholders.

Since its founding in 2015, by CEO Devan Hughes and his co-founder Artavazd Sokhikyan, Buymie has seen significant growth in the Irish market as consumer demand for same-day grocery delivery outpaces that of the traditional next day delivery service.

As part of the round, Buymie has also added former co-founder and partner of Unilever Ventures, Jan Harley, to its board of directors. Jan brings a strong track record and large amount of industry and venture experience, having previously invested in, and sat on the board of successful companies such as meal-kit delivery company Goutso, in the UK as well as Clavis Insights, an Irish technology company which was purchased by Ascential in 2017 for a reported €100m. Jan also led a large Unilever investment into Instacart, the leading US grocery on-demand platform in the US, recently valued at €8bn+.

Commenting on the latest funding round and rapid growth, Devan Hughes CEO & Co-Founder of Buymie said:

“We’re very excited to announce this latest fundraise, not only to have our existing investors continue to support us, but also to have such strong support from new incredible investors like HBAN and BVP Investments. We are absolutely thrilled to have such a strong network of strategic and value add investors joining us on this journey.

Buymie has had a transformation 18 months. There has been tremendous growth in the on-demand/same day delivery channel, visible by Amazon’s recent €500m investment into Deliveroo. The next 18 months will see some major developments in this space and Buymie’s focus will be on ensuring we continue to provide our retail partners with all of the technology and infrastructure to fight and win in this channel.”

Commenting on his recent appointment, Jan Harley, Buymie Board member:

“I am super excited about the opportunity for Buymie in the European grocery retail space. As one of the few European investor who has invested in the US on-demand grocery market, I have seen first had the benefit that on-demand delivery can bring to grocery ecommerce. Buymie are extremely well placed to lead the wave in Europe.”

About Haatch Ventures

EIS fund, Haatch Ventures, enables investors to benefit from our knowledge & experience of investing in disruptive UK technology.

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