September 6, 2021
Introducing our follow-on investment in OLIO, the world’s leading food sharing platform
We are happy to share Rubio’s follow-on investment in hyper-local community sustainability app OLIO. Our investment is part of a $43 million Series B round to fund OLIO’s fight against the $1.3 trillion tonnes of food waste created globally each year.
For those who are not familiar with this fantastic initiative: OLIO is a peer-to-peer foodsharing app that allows users to donate unwanted food and other household items to neighbours, for free. The aim is to reduce waste in the home and encourage people to consume more locally and sustainably.
Five million users
OLIO has flourished since its foundation in 2015, and now has over five million users of the app who have shared 25 million portions of food (equivalent to taking 75 million car miles off the road) and three million non-food items, all saved from the garbage dump. Half of all food added to the app is requested within 21 minutes of posting, says the company.
The venture also has more than 30,000 Food Waste Heroes: trained members of the community who collect and redistribute unsold or unserved food from businesses including Pret A Manger, Compass Catering, Costa Coffee and Elior. Last year, Tesco became the latest retailer to join the scheme, with 2,700 UK stores now using OLIO’s network to redistribute surplus food nearing its sell-by date.
Global expansion
After a year of rapid growth in the UK, OLIO now plans to expand its global presence, focusing on 10 key markets in Latin America, Northern Europe and Asia, where the app has seen very strong organic growth. To support the product development and global expansion, this new round of investment will be used to scale the OLIO team from 40 to 175+ over the next two years. This includes hiring a CTO and Directors to head up the People, Food Waste Heroes, Marketing and Growth functions, as well as various roles across product, design and business development.
Phenomenal growth
OLIO’s growth in the last year has been nothing short of phenomenal. It’s clear that consumers are becoming increasingly tuned-in to the little things they can do to boost sustainability at home. We are certain that OLIO is perfectly positioned to service this movement and along the way, create a truly transformational company. We’re delighted to be part of the OLIO journey and look forward to helping OLIO grow and expand its global footprint. The food sharing movement is set for a bright future, and we hope that you’ll join us as we take OLIO to the next level.
