INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Karma, the Stockholm-based startup that offers a marketplace to let local restaurants and grocery offer unsold food at a discount, has
raised $12 million in Series A funding.Swedish investment firm Kinnevik led the round, with participation from U.S
venture capital firm Bessemer Venture Partners, appliance manufacturer Electrolux, and previous backer VC firm e.ventures
It brings total funding to $18 million.Founded in late 2015 by Hjalmar Ståhlberg Nordegren, Ludvig Berling, Mattis Larsson and Elsa
Bernadotte, and launched the following year, Karma is an app-based marketplace that helps restaurants and grocery stores reduce food waste
by selling unsold food at a discount direct to consumers.You simply register your location with the iOS or Android app and can browse
various food merchants and the food items/dishes they have put on sale
Once you find an item to your liking, you pay through the Karma app and pick up the food before closing time
You can also follow your favourite establishments and be alerted when new food is listed each day.&One third of of all food produced is
wasted,& Karma CEO Ståhlberg Nordegren tells me
&We&re reducing food waste by enabling restaurants and grocery stores to sell their surplus food through our app… Consumers like you and
me can then buy the food directly through the app and pick it up as take away at the location
We&re helping the seller reduce food waste and increase revenue, consumers get great food at a reduced price, and we help the environment
redistributing food instead of wasting it&.Since Karma original launch in its home country of Sweden, the startup has expanded to work with
over 1,500 restaurants, grocery stores, hotels, cafes and bakeries to help reduce food waste by selling surplus food to 350,000 Karma users
It counts three of Sweden largest supermarkets as marketplace partners, as well as premium restaurants such as Ruta Baga and Marcus
Samuelsson Kitchen Table, and major brands such as Sodexo, Radisson and Scandic Hotels.In February, the company expanded to the U.K., and
is already working with over 400 restaurants in London
They include brands such as Aubaine, Polpo, Caravan, K10, Taylor St Barista&s, Ned Noodle Bar, and Detox Kitchen.Ståhlberg Nordegren says
Karma most frequent users are young professionals between the age of 25-40, who typically work in the city and pick up Karma on their way
&Students and the elderly also love the app as it a great way to discover really good food for less,& he adds.Meanwhile, will use the
funding to continue to develop its product range, especially within supermarkets, and to expand to new markets, starting with Europe
The company plans to expand from 35 people based in Stockholm today to over 100 across 5 markets by the end of next year and over 150 by mid
