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The European online grocery market is currently hotter than Carolina Reaper. Earlier this month, Kinnevik – a Swedish investment company –  invested NOK 200M (nearly €20M) in the Oslo-based online grocery startup Kolonial’s NOK 2.2B (approx €220M) round. The round was co-led by Softbank and Prosus. After the round, Kinnevik emerged as the largest shareholder in Kolonial (rebranded to Oda), owning 21 per cent of the company.

Today, Kinnevik has announced that it has invested SEK 150M (approx €14.8M) in the SEK 1.1B (approx €108.65M) funding round of Sweden-based online grocery store MatHem

Stockholm-based MatHem claims to be Sweden’s largest online grocery store and the leading e-commerce company in the grocery trade. The company combines a complete grocery store online with recipes and subscriptions for ready-made groceries.

Round also includes a debt facility

The company received SEK 150M (approx €14.8M) in funding from Kinnevik. While AMF and Stena invested SEK 100M (approx €9.9M) and SEK 50M (approx €4.94M), respectively, thereby expanding their existing ownership.

The funding round also includes a debt facility of SEK 700m (approx €69.15M).provided by P Capital Partners AB.

Founded in 1936 by the Stenbeck, Klingspor and von Horn families, Kinnevik is a Swedish investment company. Its portfolio consists of companies in healthtech, consumer services, foodtech and fintech. According to the investment firm, it backs companies at every stage of their journey and invests in Europe, with a focus on the Nordics.

Use of the capital

The proceeds from this round will help the company to continue further expansion, including the launch of the new fulfilment centre in Larsboda next year. In addition to that, the funds will also help in growing the product offering through the launch of pharmacy products in cooperation with Kronans Apotek, among other initiatives.

In 2020, MatHem recorded sales growth of 50 per cent year-on-year, with sales amounting to SEK 2.3B (approx €227.27M) for the full year.

Johan Lagercrantz, CEO of MatHem says, “I am incredibly grateful for the trust in MatHem from our investors in this funding round. MatHem has a clear focus on growth and increased efficiency in our continued journey towards profitability. We work hard to constantly develop to meet our customers’ needs and for our e-commerce of groceries with home delivery to contribute to a more convenient and simpler everyday life. With this investment, we will be able to achieve fantastic results going forward.”

Groceries delivered to your doorstep

Founded in 2009 by Karolin Kull and Tomas Kull, MatHem is an e-commerce company that combines a complete grocery store online with recipes and subscriptions for ready-made groceries. The company delivers food to your door with their own refrigerated trucks to ensure an unbroken refrigerated chain.

MatHem owns the entire distribution chain from ordering and warehousing to refrigerated and freezer trucks to enable the highest quality and service.

Recent growth

MatHem offers a broad range of grocery products and adjacent household consumables, catering to more than half of Swedish households.

In March 2021, the company’s own history was broken with a record of the largest revenue ever in a month. With a growth of 69 per cent (industry index 56 per cent) was also surpassed this month – a trend that has now persisted over the past 12 months. The strongest growth in the country for MatHem in March took place in Skåne, followed by Gothenburg.

The company is also working on Important initiatives such as the development of the new logistics facility in Larsboda, which opens in 2022. The company will also invest in the development of the customer offering – which will include the launch of the collaboration with Kronans Apotek. This will make it possible to order pharmacy goods and prescription medicine together with its MatHem delivery.