Berlin-based Rocket Internet can add a multi-billion dollar company to the list of startups that it’s helped to create. HelloFresh, a clever food-delivery startup that also happens to be based in Berlin, just raised €75 million ($85 million) in funding, which was led by Scottish investment firm Baillie Gifford and values the company at around €2.6 billion ($2.9 billion). What makes HelloFresh so clever is that, instead of delivering pre-made meals, it delivers food kits and simple recipes on how to use them.
HelloFresh GmbH, a German food-delivery startup backed by the Samwer brothers’ Rocket Internet SE, raised 75 million euros in funding, lifting its valuation to 2.6 billion euros ($2.9 billion) as it seeks to increase its market share and expand further. The investment by Scottish investment firm Baillie Gifford boosts the delivery company’s valuation from 600 million euros and reduces Rocket’s shareholding from 58.9 percent to 57.2 percent, Rocket said in a statement Thursday. Its stake is now worth 1.5 billion euros, said Berlin-based Rocket, a venture investment firm founded by Oliver, Marc, and Alexander Samwer. With the investment, HelloFresh joins the ranks of so-called unicorns, venture-backed startups that have achieved a valuation of $1 billion or more. Ride-sharing application BlaBlaCar said Wednesday it raised $200 million in funding, bringing the French company’s valuation to $1.6 billion. HelloFresh, which raised $126 million in February, was set up in 2011 and delivers weekly meal kits with recipes and ingredients to customers in seven countries.
