OLIO raises $2.2 million to help reduce food wastage

UK-based OLIO, a food sharing app for reducing food waste, has raised $2.2 million in funding from several investors.

The app, which was launched in the UK last year by cofounders Tessa Cook and Saasha Celestial-One, is used by neighbours to share unwanted or unused food around the local community. OLIO’s Food Waste Heroes Programme connects volunteers with businesses like supermarket to help redistribute unsold food at the end of the day.

Investors in this round include Accel, Quadia, Mustard Seed, ASOS cofounder Quentin Griffiths, and Easynet COO Wayne Churchill.

According to the startup, food waste is a huge cost for businesses and since its launched, the app has amassed 120,000 users who have shared 35 tonnes of food. The startup has now partnered with Sainsbury’s and launched globally.

“This is a major vote of confidence in our long-term vision to enable hundreds of millions of hyper-local food sharing networks across the globe,” said cofounder Cook.

“From the start we were drawn to the enormity of the problem that OLIO addresses, and are backing Tessa, Saasha and the team to unlock the huge potential of mobile-enabled hyper-local sharing,” added Accel general partner, Sonali De Rycker.