Food marketplace Delli, which was set up by Depop founder Simon Beckerman in 2021 and provides a platform for small time makers to sell their products, has raised a $6m seed extension.
The internal round was led by existing investors and early Depop backers Balderton and HV Capital. Beckerman, who netted $68m after Etsy’s $1.6bn acquisition of Depop in 2021, also participated. It brings the startup’s total funding to $16.4m.
The raise follows 16x revenue growth compared to this time last year, according to Delli, and will be used to scale operations ahead of expansion to the US.
“We see food as the new fashion”
Delli exists to fill the “big hole” between independent food makers selling products on street markets and getting their wares on the shelves of supermarkets, says Delli’s CEO and other cofounder Marie Petrovicka — who was previously a Depop exec then Delli COO, before taking over the reins from Beckerman earlier this year.
Petrovicka tells Sifted Delli is also looking to tap into what it sees as a big shift in consumer behaviour, pointing to the growth of food-centric content on social media platforms. One report also suggests that groceries have become a new “splurge” item for Gen Z and millennials.
“We see food as the new fashion — a form of self expression,” she says (it’s no coincidence that Delli’s app has the same film camera aesthetic as Depop).
That “new fashion” mantra is the guiding philosophy behind the business that was launched after Beckerman noticed the increasing number of independent food retailers who were selling on Instagram during Covid lacked a single platform where consumers could find them.
For smaller sellers, Delli houses products — which range from foods like oils, hot sauces, snacks and drinks — in its warehouse but doesn’t purchase them itself, waiting for customers to buy the product at which point it takes a cut. Delli buys products wholesale from larger producers.
Delli says that more than 500 food makers have listed products on its platform since launching in early 2022.
Delli’s US plans
While Petrovicka is tight-lipped about specific revenue numbers, she tells Sifted Delli is looking to grow them five or six times over by this time next year.
To do that in the UK — its only market — it’s looking to entice more well known independent food makers to its platform from cities other than London, like Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh and Birmingham.
It’s also got a number of new tools on its roadmap to help sellers turn their often home kitchen-based operations into more professional outfits, says Petrovicka.
The big idea is to get to a point where sellers have all the tools and guidance they need to grow a food business via the Delli platform. “That way we will be able to scale and bring on more sellers,” she says.
That could be design tools that help makers create food labels to resources guiding them through the regulatory frameworks they need to navigate when selling a food item.
To do all that, Delli hopes to double its full time team size to 40 by this time next year, says Petrovicka.
And further down the line, she’s eyeing the US market — one she knows all too well having led Depop’s expansion into the country.
While Delli doesn’t have a timeline on expansion across the Atlantic, Petrovicka tells Sifted: “it’s the next market we want to go for and we’re seeing the trend [of consumers turning towards spending on food items] happening even stronger in the US.”
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/depop-founder-delli-raises-6m-news/
