As there is an increased awareness of the use of sustainable and environment friendly products, many companies have started working towards bringing responsibly and regionally produced food from the producer directly to your home. And, the Zurich-based online market Farmy does the same with a focus on sustainability and transparency.
Bags €9.2M funding
In a recent development, Farmy bagged €9.2 million funding from impact investing fund Triodos Organic Growth Fund along with participation from other investors. The fund offers long-term mission-aligned private equity to frontrunners in the sustainable food industry in Europe. The round also helped Farmy gain several private investors including Thomas Harttung, the co-founder of Aarstiderne, an online provider of organic meal-box solutions in Denmark.
The Zurich-based startup will enable Farmy to expand its own fleet of electric vehicles, delivery areas, the warehouse, and invest in its in-house IT along with marketing efforts. The company is an IT service provider and let food producers, offline food retailers, and associations digitalise their offerings.
Co-founder and co-CEO of Farmy, Tobias Schubert said, “As a strongly mission-driven company, we are proud to be backed by such a highly respected and especially sustainable institutional investor like Triodos Organic Growth Fund. We are fully convinced that together we will create much more value for all stakeholders of Farmy focusing on further growth by following our mission of a greener way of eating.”
“Farmy has been able to build a very impressive company with a strong sustainability impact in recent years. Farmy sets new standards in the regional food supply chain and we are looking forward to actively contribute to the further growth and strategic development of Farmy”, stated Isabelle Laurencin, Principal Investment Manager from Triodos Organic Growth Fund.
How does Farmy work?
The Zurich-based online market for sustainable and transparent weekly shopping, directly from the producer offers over 12,500 organic hand-picked products from over 1,000 authentic producers. Farmy delivers produce such as fruits, vegetables, delicacies, sweet temptations, Swiss diaries, meat, pantry and drugstore goods.
It delivers the same to your doorsteps via its smart logistics, e-mobiles and own fleet. The goods that are delivered are incomparably fresh in an emission reduced manner and is time-saving as well. In select areas such as Zurich and Geneva, the delivery is free of cost. Its first customers include the producer Jucker Farm and the major Swiss organic label “Bio Suisse”.
Growth during COVID-19 crisis
While customers are moving towards online shopping of groceries unlike ever before, the COVID-19 pandemic has added to the same. During the first half of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and the subsequent lockdown was going on, Farmy witnessed a surge in sales by around 160% as compared to the same period last year. In this period, the company witnessed sales of nearly €10.6 million and also attained the position of the third-largest online food shop in Switzerland.
Main image picture credits: Farmy
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