Online supermarket Picnic has raised €430 million in a new funding round from existing investors. Most of the money is earmarked for growth in Germany, where Picnic has now become the market leader. As the company expands into new regions and cities, significant investments are needed in areas such as distribution centres.
Picnic was founded ten years ago by a group of experienced entrepreneurs who worked in stealth mode for three years before launching. Free, minute-accurate delivery quickly gained traction in the Netherlands, and Picnic now serves two million customers in two hundred towns from seven distribution centres. The company expanded into Germany in 2018 and into France in 2021.
Germany has nearly five times as many inhabitants as the Netherlands and is almost nine times its size. Co-founder Michiel Muller says: “We want to be able to deliver to a large share of households in Germany as well, so this requires substantial investments to roll out the same infrastructure we have in the Netherlands. Since launch, we’ve been growing even faster in Germany than in the Netherlands, so the outlook is positive.” In the Netherlands, Picnic is currently operationally profitable.
