Buymie’s personalised, one-hour online grocery shopping gets UK boost from Asda deal and VC funding – International

buymie: personal online grocery shopping hits the UK

Irish big basket, same-day, personal grocery shopping platform buymie has signed a deal with Asda to bring the service to the UK and has rasied €7m in funding as the reshaping of the online grocery model continues apace.

Founded in 2016, buymie employs a network of more than 400 local personal shoppers to pick orders from stores. This means that customers are able to note specific preferences on their orders and can opt-in for a call from their shopper in-store if items are out of stock.

Unlike traditional ecommerce solutions, buymie can deliver on the same day and can fulfil orders in as little as one hour.

The service has been available to more than 2 million households across Dublin, Limerick, Cork and Galway since 2020. The service has now been used by one in eight households across Dublin.

buymie works closely with official retail partners Dunnes Stores, Lidl and The Co-op and has fromed a major new partnership with Asda to launch the service in Leeds and Bristol and was enlisted to build a customised ASDA Express app, validating buymie’s enterprise technology offering and leveraging the innovative routing and delivery capabilities of buymie, as well as its dedicated network of independent personal shoppers.

With total funding to date now standing at €18.2 million, this further €7 million investment was led by the company’s largest backers including Grosvenor Food & AgTech,  Act Venture Capital, Sure Valley Ventures, Haatch Ventures, and HBAN. Other notable investors in this round include Keith Weed CBE, former Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for Unilever and Eamonn Quinn former Deputy Chairman of the Superquinn Group and Chairman of buymie. 

Speaking about the investment, Devan Hughes, CEO & Co-Founder of buymie says: “This latest round of funding follows the successful launch of our newest retail partnership with ASDA across multiple cities in the UK. This capital will allow the business to continue its focus on developing best in class technology while helping our retail partners transform their online and in-store capabilities to better serve their customers and unlock growth opportunities.”

One of buymie’s early backers is Keith Weed former Chief Marketing Officer of Unilever PLC now sitting on the board of directors of both Sainsbury’s and WPP. Commenting on his backing of the business, Weed adds: “The grocery retail landscape is being transformed by platform technology. It is very clear that the growth and margin opportunities of the future for retailers will be unlocked through capabilities facilitated by businesses and technology like buymie”

Weed’s words ring true, as just last month WPP, the world’s largest advertising agency, launched its own platform technology offering called “Every Mile” to help brands better manage their direct-to-consumer offerings. 

The UK grocery delivery market is in a state of flux, with new models and new entrants shaking up the market. The arrival of buymie comes just a week after Swedish discount grocery retailer Motatos announced plans to launch its online grocery redistribution service in the UK in June.

The company, which is already big across the Nordics and Germany under the name Matsmart, takes surplus stock from supermarkets and distributors and then sells it to shoppers at a discount, before they are put in landfill.

The products, which don’t include fresh, frozen or chilled items, and typically encompass large pack beverage, snacks, household, pet and beauty lines, are usually those that are on short best before dates or are seasonally out of favour with other retailers.