Image credits: Hors Normes
Hors Normes, a Paris-based anti-food waste startup, announced on Thursday that it has raised €7M in a Seed round of funding from German VC Project A and existing investor Stride VC. The company has raised €8.5M in funding to date.
Fund utilisation
Hors Normes says it plans to use the funds to expand its operation to five new cities in France by the end of 2023, with one opening planned by December, 2022. The French company also intends to grow its operations to other European cities in Germany, Spain, and Italy.
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Part of the proceeds will go towards expanding the range of grocery products refused by traditional retail chains – from 30 to 500 references by the end of 2023.
The latest capital will also help Hors Normes to develop new features to promote basket customisation, create a new mobile app and recruit 40 employees by the end of 2022.
Sven Ripoche, co-founder of Hors Normes, says, “This second round of financing marks the start of a new stage in Hors Normes’ expansion. In just two years, we have managed to win over 7,000 customers and save more than 400 tonnes of food produce. We want to continue our mission: reduce food waste and make good quality products available to all. To do this, expanding our presence in France and abroad and increasing our range of saved products will be our priorities for the next 24 months. Our action also has a positive social impact on French producers since Hors Normes is an additional source of income for them.”
Hors Normes: What you need to know
Grégoire Carlier, Sven Ripoche, and Claire Laurent founded Hors Normes in 2020 to help French organic farmers and producers sell their products directly to consumers when refused by traditional retail channels.
The company recovers the “rejected” share of inventories from producers and offers its products for sale directly to consumers at up to 40 per cent lower price than those of organic stores.
“Economically this is a win/win relationship, which also has the merit of contributing to reducing the carbon footprint of our food since food wastage alone accounts for nearly 8% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide,” says the company.
The company has already won over 7,000 regular consumers in the Paris area, Lyon, and Marseille, and saved 400 tonnes of fruit and vegetables since its launch. In 2021, the company multiplied its turnover by 7 times, and Hors Normes has already tripled it in the first half of 2022.
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