Cajoo, a French startup, is raising money to be more competitive in the highly competitive market for food delivery companies. Carrefour, the giant supermarket chain, is the lead investor today's round. Headline, formerly e.ventures, is participating in today's round along with existing investors Frst & XAnge.
Carrefours is more than a financial investment. Cajoo will benefit from Carrefours buying organization. Cajoo will thus be able offer its customers more products.
Cajoo is one of many startups trying to invent a new type of grocery delivery. Cajoo operates dark-stores and maintains its own product inventory. Customers can order items online and don't have to worry about whether or not they will be at home when delivery arrives. A delivery person arrives with your groceries around 15 minutes later.
It competes with Getir and Flink as well as Zapp, Zapp, Gorillas and Flink. It competes indirectly with traditional retailers as well as their online ordering systems.
It's a very capital-intensive category, CEO and co-founder Henri Capoul explained to me. The entire value chain is ours. We must launch hubs if we wish to grow.
Cajoo has $40 million in its bank account and wants to consolidate its market position in its country. The service is currently live in 10 French cities Paris, Neuilly-sur-Seine, Levallois-Perret, Boulogne-Billancourt, Lille, Lyon, Toulouse, Bordeaux and Montpellier.
Yet, Paris is seeing some competition for the company. Henri Capoul views it as validation of the market. There are many players who have raised large sums of money. It is a regulated market. All our products are ours and we must comply with regulations. He said that we can't sell everything at a profit.
Henri Capoul anticipates some consolidation in the future, but the company is still doing all it can to be a large, independent business. European champions will be the first national champions. Some players are able to overcome the lack of products by offering discounts. Henri Capoul stated that he believes that this category will have three to four players who are strong in their home countries.
Cajoo is the only French company currently operating in this sector. It is clear that Cajoo sees itself first as a French market leader. The company is also looking into other markets, such as Spain, Portugal, Italy and Spain.
First, the company plans to increase its workforce. By the end of this year, the number of employees in the headquarters will have doubled. The delivery and operations teams will also see a significant increase. This is a major area where the company anticipates a fivefold growth by the end.
Cajoo has hired some delivery workers. Cajoo also relies on contracting companies and freelancers as partners. The company is also facing the same challenges as Deliveroo or Uber Eats.
Cajoo may be a great business idea. However, users will need to question whether they really have a problem with it or if they just use it because it exists. Over the long-term, instant delivery companies could make a significant impact on brick-and mortar shops.
