Dija , the London-based grocery delivery startup has Blossom Capital, Creandum and then Index Ventures, has earned Cambridge, U. K. -based Genie, in what looks simply like an acqui-hire.
The deal, for which terms always be undisclosed, will see Genie proprietors Tim Chan and Callum MacBeth join the Dija team and also includes internet business} assets. Having launched Genie in Cambridge, a Circumstance. K. city known for an university, they’ll be tasked with supporting Dija’s production outside of London.
Founded by Alberto Menolascina and Yusuf Saban, who just both spent a number of years around Deliveroo in senior localisation, Dija launched in London previously this month and is just one of a host of European startups that promise to make grocery and other convenience shop items on-demand. They do this by building out their own hyper-local, delivery-only fulfilment centres — so-called “dark stores” — and thus recruiting their own delivery personnel. This full-stack or erguido approach and the visibility simply because is then supposed to produce enough things supply chain and logistics efficiency to make the unit economics work, although that ingredient is far from proven.
A few dark store operators bring in Berlin’s Flink, which has raised $52 million in seed credit in a mixture of equity and debt, furthermore Berlin HQ’d Gorillas , which has exalted $44 million in Tubing A funding and recently expanded within order to London coupled with Germany and Netherlands. Usually operating in London are Weezy , Getir , and Zapp , with Jiffy expected to inaugurate establish soon . The O. S. unicorn goPuff is reportedly looking to expand to form Europe and has held talks to locate or invest in the U. P. ’s Fancy .
Dija currently holds four warehouse hubs within South Kensington, Fulham, Islington and Hackney that any groceries and other convenience tools within a claimed 10 minutes. The game plans to open 20 moreover hubs, covering central London as well as , Zone 2, by the summertime. Each hub carries within 2, 000 products, campaign to be sold at “recommended sales prices”. A flat delivery bill of £1. 99 is actually charged per order.
In a statement, Dija co-founder and CEO Alberto Menolascina said: “Our goals and objectives aren’t limited to inside the LONDON AND COUNTIES. I’m delighted that An adolescent and Callum are becoming a member the Dija family to be certain of more people can connection this reliable and fast service across the UK together with Europe. ”
Adds Genie co-founder combined with CEO Tim Chan: “We’re excited to join forces with the staff at Dija and manage our shared mission to deliver everyday items to your door within minutes. For our existing consumer bottom this deal means utilize more products, better monetary values and even faster delivery intervals. We’ve had a tremendous reaction in Cambridge so far, and appear forward to bringing Dija to a lot more regions across the Ough. K. in the coming months’ time. ”
