Jiffy

Jiffy is an online express food delivery service in London. It was launched by co-founder of the DC Daily food machine network Arthur Shamalov.

History

2021

Attracting $28 million of investments

In September 2021, Jiffy announced the attraction of $28 million in investments. The product express delivery service intends to spend the funds received on the geographical expansion of its presence in London and other British cities, in which more than 100 thousand people live. Taking into account this transaction, the total amount of investments in the project with Russian roots reached $35 million.

The round, which was announced in September 2021, was attended by Playrix Holding game developer, LVL1 Group, co-founder and first investor of VKontakte Lev Leviev, as well as Baring Vostok Capital Partners and Boston Flint Capital, Forbes said   with reference to co-founder of the project Vladimir KupiVip Fholnikov. Led the round of investment company Heartland.

Jiffy co-founders Vladimir Kholyaznikov on the left) and Arthur Shamalov

The pandemic [coronavirus] COVID-19 has increased consumers' need for ultra-fast and convenient grocery stores, which supermarkets simply cannot provide. Jiffy was launched only five months ago, but we are very proud of the rapid but steady growth that we have achieved, "said Jiffy co-founder Vladimir Kholyaznikov.

According to its own data, the startup by September 2021 has about 20 thousand customers in six delivery zones in London and eight dark stores (stores for collecting orders). The first dark store of the service opened in April this year.

By the end of 2021, Jiffy plans to open up to 25 darkstores and cover all of London as part of the M-4 ring road. By January 2022, the startup expects to grow at least five times in the number of orders and revenue from the current level, says Kholyaznikov. The plan for 2022 is 10 times growth in the same indicators, as well as access to cities other than London.^[1]

Raising $3 million from the Baring Vostok Fund

On April 12, 2021, Jiffy announced the attraction of $3 million in investments from the Baring Vostok fund. The startup intends to spend the funds received on expanding the product delivery area faster, opening new darkstores (stores working only for delivery) and expanding the team. By April 12, Jiffy employs about 50 people.

About the investments in Jiffy "Kommersant" said the founder of the service Arthur Shamalov, and the representative of Baring Vostok confirmed the information. At the same time, the interlocutors of the publication did not disclose the parameters of the investment transaction.

Shamalov noted that the first Jiffy darkstore appeared in London on April 5, 2021, and by June ten such points will be opened in the city.

Jiffy raised $3 million in investments

The founder of Jiffy, in a conversation with TechCrunch, said the company wants to make product delivery as simple and affordable as a regular grocery store. The publication notes that the implementation of this plan will require large investments that are needed to build stores and conduct campaigns to attract companies. According to journalists, Jiffy does not have enough funds for the planned business development, but Shamalov argues the opposite.

{{quote 'We don't think we don't have enough funding. We attract as much capital as we consider effective, given the reduction in the share of founders and the construction of the company step by step instead of missing the promised ambitions. We do not agree that the greatest funding and cost overruns for acquisition and expansion will automatically lead to greater success in this industry. Hyperlocal business models require a hyperlocal approach to everything, so we are focused on expanding in one market, and not on a global one, "he said^{[2] [3]}

Attracting $3.6 million of investments

In early March 2021, it became known about investing in Jiffy. Most of all funds invested LVL1 Group Lev Leviev. The financing round was also attended by AddVenture, TA Ventures, business angel Alexander Nevinsky, co-founders of KupiVIPOskar Hartmann and Vladimir Kholyaznikov and investor Dominic Losher.

According to Kommersant, the Jiffy project managed to raise about $3.6 million. The parameters of the transaction, including the shares of investors and the estimated value of the startup, are not disclosed. Jiffy founder Arthur Shamalov said that the company is preparing for a new investment round, within which it wants to receive $20-30 million. With this money, by the end of 2021, Jiffy will open 25-35 darkstores in London, and then plans to scale in other parts of the UK.

The service for the delivery of products with Russian roots Jiffy attracted millions from investors from the Russian Federation

Jiffy works by analogy with the Russian services Yandex.Shop and Samokat. At the initial stage, the startup decided to deliver products from popular brands and local suppliers, but in the future will begin to produce products under its own brand name.

According to Rodion Shishkov, co-founder of Samokat, the markets in Europe and America in the food and food delivery segment have lagged behind the Russian one, and investors are literally lining up for projects in this area. As the founder of A.Partners Alexei Soloviev explained to the publication, investors at the initial stage of such projects are counting on their relatively rapid growth and absorption by another strategic investor.

In this business, it is also important to quickly gain a user base, adds Maxim Avtukhov, commercial and financial director of Yandex.Lavki. According to him, this is easier to do if the project has access to the audience of a partner or other ecosystem service.^[4]

Notes