[Funding alert] Dutch Online Grocery Store Picnic Secures €355 Million in Funding

The company was founded in the Netherlands in 2015 and employs small electric vans to transport groceries from nearby distribution facilities to customers. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust and Edeka, the biggest grocery chain in Germany, were among the investors in the most recent fundraising effort.

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The charitable Gates Foundation is not affiliated with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Trust. The asset investment firm Cascade Investment is in control of it.

The funding comes at an intriguing time, as the last-mile food delivery industry has been severely affected by rising food prices, as well as by the fallout from rapid development, closing of local warehouses, and legal challenges to labour violations.

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Due to already slim profit margins, several suppliers are shifting their focus from lightning-fast deliveries (less than 10 minutes) to planned deliveries with more time to wait. This increases the motivation to purchase at Picnic once a week.

About Picnic

In 2015, Joris Beckers, Frederik Nieuwenhuys, Michiel Muller, and Bas Verheijen launched Picnic. Gerard Scheij joined later as well.

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While shopping is a part of it, there are other enjoyable activities. However, they increasingly shop at the supermarket and handle more tasks ourselves. They choose the most exquisite veggies and the ideal day, then they load the cart.