While some of those “other” grocery and essential items players hailing from Germany and Spain might grab headlines, for better or for worse, on a rather regular basis, France isn’t planning on being left out of the game anytime soon. In so much, the countries’ largest online grocer and fresh food delivery service La Belle Vie has announced a respectable Series B raise of €25 million and plans to expand its offer across la République over the course of 2022. Including this round, La Belle Vie has raised over €42 million.
Founded in 2015 by serial entrepreneurs Alban Wienkoop and Paul Lê, La Belle Vie is arguably a pioneer in its field, offering consumers home deliveries of grocery and everyday essentials a full 5 years before a global pandemic catapulted an entire industry into our everyday vernacular.
Today, La Belle Vie has over 17,000 products on offer, some 4,000 of which are fresh groceries, over 500 employees (as in, real employees, with permanent contracts) who make over 15,000 deliveries on a weekly basis, all within a timeframe of 1 to 3 hours throughout some 1,300 cities encompassing the Île-de-France. Making this all possible, the company points to its proprietary supply chain process, a partnership with Système U, and seven Parisian warehouses.
But, 1 to 3 hours? An eternity you might say in the plaid-speed delivery times offered by others. Not to be outdone, this past September, La Belle Vie jumped into the q-commerce game as well, with sub-brand bam courses now providing more than 2,500 products to Parisian doorsteps in 15 minutes. And before you say that others offer 10-minute deliveries, I ask you this, have you ever navigated Parisian traffic? I have, and even 15 minutes is a true miracle by any standard.
"I am very proud of the path Alban and I have taken. Since day one, we have been obsessed with profitability, with extremely tight control of our margins and supply chain, but also with the social aspect, with the employment of over 600 people on permanent contracts. La Belle Vie is a wonderful human adventure and we are thrilled to be supported in our growth by international and French investors that are as prestigious as they are experienced." commented Lê.
New York-based Left Lane Capital and Quadrille Capital led the €25 million Series B round, with existing investor Capagro also participating.
"La Belle Vie has gone far beyond its role as a grocery delivery service. With the width of its offer, its ability to reference the best in a multitude of fields, and its speed of delivery, La Belle Vie is becoming the best of all retailers combined. They have succeeded where Amazon Retail has failed and that is a huge victory. Paul & Alban have impressed us with their vision and ability to execute and we are very happy to support this French innovative leader in its growth," concluded Left Lane Capital managing partner Jason Fiedler.
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