Olio Raises $43M Series B to Tackle Food Waste

OLIO Secures $43 Million Series B to Combat Food Waste Globally

The U.K.-based startup OLIO, known for its innovative app connecting users to share surplus food, has successfully raised $43 million in a Series B funding round. This substantial investment underscores the growing recognition of the platform’s potential to address the significant issue of food waste.

Investment Details and Key Players

This latest funding round was spearheaded by Swedish investment firm VNV Global, alongside New York-based hedge fund Lugard Road Capital/Luxor. Existing investors, including Accel and Octopus Ventures, also participated, demonstrating continued confidence in OLIO’s mission.

Notably, DX Ventures, the venture capital arm of food delivery giant Delivery Hero, joined as a new strategic investor. This partnership highlights the increasing synergy between food delivery and waste reduction initiatives.

Expansion Plans and the Food Waste Heroes Programme

OLIO intends to utilize the new capital to accelerate its international expansion, focusing on key markets in Latin America, Northern Europe, and Asia. The company is experiencing strong organic growth in these regions.

A significant portion of the funding will be dedicated to expanding the Food Waste Heroes Programme. This initiative collaborates with food businesses and restaurants to achieve zero food waste, minimize environmental impact, and reduce carbon emissions.

From Community Bulletin Board to Enterprise Solution

Founded in 2015 by Tessa Clarke and Saasha Celestial-One, OLIO initially began as a platform for neighbors to freely exchange unwanted food and household items. The founders’ deep commitment to sustainability and reducing food waste quickly set it apart.

The app unexpectedly became a valuable resource for local food businesses, enabling them to sustainably redistribute surplus food and enhance their public image. This growth-hacking approach led to partnerships with major retailers like Tesco, which now utilizes OLIO to redistribute food from 2,700 U.K. stores.

Impact and Scale of OLIO’s Network

Currently, OLIO boasts over five million users who have shared 25 million portions of food – equivalent to removing 75 million car miles from the road – and three million non-food items from landfills. The company reports that half of all food listed on the app is claimed within 21 minutes.

Globally, food waste represents a staggering $1.3 trillion loss annually, contributing significantly to CO2 emissions.

The Growing Demand for Sustainable Solutions

OLIO’s Food Waste Heroes programme now includes over 30,000 trained community members who collect and redistribute unsold food from businesses such as Pret A Manger, Compass Catering, Costa Coffee, and Elior.

Clarke emphasizes that increasing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) commitments are driving demand from businesses seeking to reduce waste. OLIO offers a cost-effective and straightforward solution for organizations aiming for zero food waste.

Pandemic-Driven Growth and New Features

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated OLIO’s growth as people sought local connections and ways to reduce waste. The platform’s “MADE” section, facilitating the buying and selling of homemade goods, experienced increased user engagement.

OLIO is also introducing new features, “BORROW” and “WANTED,” within the next six months, further expanding its community marketplace capabilities and positioning it as a competitor to platforms like Facebook Marketplace.

Team Expansion and Future Vision

The Series B funding will enable OLIO to scale its team from 40 to over 175 employees.

Per Brilioth, CEO of VNV Global, highlighted OLIO’s phenomenal growth and its ability to cater to the increasing consumer focus on sustainability. Duncan McIntyre, managing partner of DX Ventures, praised OLIO’s scalable and sustainable approach to tackling the global food waste problem.

A Vision Beyond Food Sharing

In a recent interview, Tessa Clarke articulated OLIO’s ambitious vision to completely reinvent consumption patterns. She envisions a future where people prioritize sharing and borrowing over constant purchasing, disrupting the traditional models of companies like Amazon and Facebook.

Clarke believes OLIO is pioneering a new era of sustainable consumption, driven by a growing awareness of the climate crisis and a desire for community connection. The platform’s success is rooted in its mission-driven approach and its ability to tap into fundamental human values – the desire to share, reduce waste, and connect with neighbors.

Mike Butcher: Would you say this is the story of a startup that started with a simple idea but which has grown to be something a great deal bigger?

Tessa Clarke: Yes it’s very much a reflection of where I think the world is today, in that we are waking up to the climate crisis. And in a post-COVID World OLIO suddenly makes an awful lot of sense. We grew over 5x through last year and that sort of pace of growth is continuing as people are realising “I want to connect with my neighbors. I hate having to throw stuff away. I kind of want to be connected with my community and feel empowered, feel like I’m making a difference.”

Why do you think food businesses have gotten involved in your Food Waste program?

They’ve seen the IPCC reports, they know they’ve got to get to net zero. Now, they’ve got to have a proper ESG strategy. That is the food waste heroes program part of the business and it’s booming. We’ve got an incredibly strong pipeline there because businesses have spent the past couple of years kicking off various projects through their supply chain to try and reduce and eliminate food waste. They’ve done all of that, and they’re now coming out the other end of those projects and working with charities and with discounting apps, and they’re reaching the inevitable conclusion that they have to work with OLIO to get to zero food waste. So we spent the last year scaling up very rapidly with Tesco across their store portfolio.