Glovo will strengthen its growth and become the most relevant technology hub in Southern Europe
The startup is heading in its ambition to optimize the platform and offer a better service to riders, users and stores. With this goal, the company plans to hire more than 100 engineers
Niall Wass, former SVP, EMEA & APAC at Uber, and current Glovo advisor, has been nominated Chairman of the Board. His vast experience will help Glovo consolidate its position in the operating countries and continue with its international expansion
The firms Rakuten, Seaya and Cathay reaffirm their commitment to Glovo’s business model in this Series C, which includes new investors such as AmRest, one of largest companies in the restaurant sector, the European funds Idinvest Partners and GR Capital, as well as other minor investors
Barcelona, July 18th, 2018.- The technological platform Glovo strengthens its business model with the entry of 115 million Euros in a Series C round from the international companies Rakuten, Seaya and Cathay, which already invested in Series B; AmRest, the largest publicly listed restaurant operator in Central Europe, the European funds Idinvest Partnersand GR Capital, and other minor investments. This new injection of funding will allow the startup to continue investing in optimizing the platformand its technological resources in order to improve the service to riders, users and associated stores. The company will increase its tech team with the hiring of more than 100 engineersin the coming months with the aim of becomingthe most relevant technology hub in Southern Europe.
The opening of 6 countries and 20 citiesaround the world in just three monthsdemonstrates Glovo’s priority to grow and consolidate its business worldwide, focusing on Latin America and EMEA areas (Europe, the Middle East and Africa). In Spain Glovo already operates in more than 21 cities, while worldwide, its presence expands to 61 cities in 17 countries.
Founded in Barcelona in January 2015, Glovo has revolutionized the way people in the cities consume, giving them the possibility to ask for what they want, whenever and wherever they want, taking their city in their pocket.
The rapid growth and consolidation of Glovo have highlighted the company’s enormous potential. Therefore, in this new series the prestigious Japanese company Rakuten, sponsor of FC Barcelona, the global venture capital fund Cathay Innovation and the Spanish fund Seaya Ventures are still present. They believe in Glovo’s innovative business model and seek to promote its development. AmRest is one of the new investors that enter the shareholding of the Barcelona startup. AmRest controls over 1,650 restaurants in more than 16 countries with brands such as KFC, La Tagliatella, Pizza Hut, Starbucks and Burger King, Blue Frog and KABB. This investment of 115 million Euros positions Glovo as one of the Spanish companies receiving the largest investment in 2018.
“We are very happy with this new injection of liquidity that will allow us to continue growing at an accelerated rate,” said Oscar Pierre, CRO and co-founder of Glovo. “My main priority is to invest in increasing our tech team to continue optimizing the platform and offer the best service in the sector to our three main axes: riders, users and stores and become their reference delivery app.”
Besides, the company has gained a great exceptional active with the nomination of NiallWass as Chairman. Wass, former SVP, EMEA & APAC at Uber, has been working for Glovo as advisor for the last year, helping the company with its expansion strategy.
Latham & Watkins, international law firm, has advised Glovo in this funding round.
About Glovo
Glovo is an app that allows you to buy, collect and send any product within the same city at a time. It has more than 1 million users and 5,600 associated partners.In Spain, the service is available in the urban areas of 21 cities, among them are Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Zaragoza or Seville. Internationally, Glovo operates in the main capital cities in Europe and EMEA, as Rome, Paris, Istanbul or Casablanca and also in 9 countries of LATAM, as Brazil, Argentina or Panama. Currently Glovo is already in 61 cities of 17 countries throughout the world and it’s expected to expand and open its business to new cities in the coming weeks.
For additional information:
Adelaida Chinchilla / Rocío Carasso
a.chinchilla@romanyasociados.es
r.carasso@romanyasociados.es
93.414.23.40 / 648 50 37 39
About Rakuten Capital
Rakuten Capital is a corporate venture capital group that provides funding, sector experience and operational support to its portfolio companies across the world. Rakuten Capital is part of the RakutenGroup (TSE: 4755), one of the world’s leading internet service companies headquartered in Tokyo with operations in Asia, Europe and the Americas. Rakuten has built and invested in innovative internet businesses in e-commerce, financial services, digital content and advertising since 1997. For more information visit: https://capital.rakuten.com
About Seaya Ventures
Seaya Ventures is a Venture Capital fund with €160M assets under management. Seaya invests in early and growth stage Internet and technology-enabled businesses in Spain and Latin America, supporting them in their expansion and growth to become regional and global leaders. Seaya, founded in 2013, has invested through two funds, Seaya I and Seaya II, in 17 companies, among which are Cabify, Glovo or Spotahome. For more information visit: https://seayaventures.com/contact
About Cathay Innovation
Cathay Innovation is a global venture capital fund, created in affiliation with Cathay Capital Private Equity. It was founded around the shared conviction that supporting digital entrepreneurs by providing them with a platform bridging 3 continents – North America, Europe and China – constitutes a particularly powerful value-creation strategy. As a multi-stage fund, Cathay Innovation partners with visionary entrepreneurs, committed to driving change through technology. Such transformation is accelerated by leveraging Cathay Capital Private Equity’s extensive network with corporates and solid experience in operational excellence. Cathay Innovation has offices in San Francisco, Paris, Beijing and Shanghai. To learn more, please visit www.cathayinnovation.comor follow us on Twitter @Cathayinnov.
About AmRest Holdings SE
AmRest Holdings SE is the largest publicly listed restaurant company in Central and Eastern Europe. AmRest runs the following partnerships: KFC, Pizza Hut, Starbucks i Burger King, and is the owner of supreme La Tagiatella brand and two Chinese concepts: Blue Frog i KABB. Currently Partnership controls over 1650 restaurants in the segment of Quick Service Restaurants and Casual Dining Restaurants (with waiter service) in 16 countries: Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Russia, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, and China. More information available on the webpage: www.amrest.eu/en
