Zero Waste E-Supermarket Raises Pre-Seed To Expand Reusable Packaging For Groceries

E-grocery startup Lyfa is dedicated to helping consumers shift to a zero-waste lifestyle by offering groceries in reusable packaging. It secured an undisclosed amount in its pre-seed round. The round was led by global accelerator-VC Rockstart and the largest privately funded venture platform in Switzerland, the Swiss Startup Group.

Zero waste grocery

Founded in 2019, Lyfa is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland. The company offers its customers over 250 products in waste-free packaging. These include eco-friendly jute bags, glass containers, natural cotton bags, and reusable plastic packaging for household items. It provides a home delivery service and collects empty packages during the next delivery.

The company plans to use the capital to expand its operations as well as its product range. “Lyfa’s purpose is to make it simple, accessible and convenient for anyone to live waste-free,” CEO, and co-founder of Lyfa, Michael May said in a statement. “Since launching in 2020, we’ve made huge steps towards product-market fit and see this as the perfect time to build out our service by expanding our team and our infrastructure. Our aim is to reach operational profitability by the end of 2021 while also expanding out of Basel to Zürich and Bern.”

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Since launching in 2020, we’ve made huge steps towards product-market fit and see this as the perfect time to build out our service by expanding our team and our infrastructure. Our aim is to reach operational profitability by the end of 2021 while also expanding out of Basel to Zürich and Bern

CEO and co-founder of Lyfa, Michael May

Investor support

Lyfa’s pre-seed round was led by Swiss Startup Group and Rockstart supported as a co-investor with Mirko Kerschbaum as an informal investor.

Amsterdam-based Rockstart invested in Lyfa through its AgriFood fund, marking its second investment in the company.

Managing partner of AgriFood Rockstart Mark Durno said that the team invested in Lyfa to support its sustainable solution, which is absolutely necessary to reduce waste. “Lyfa’s combination of e-grocery and zero packaging is simple and impactful. The founders, Michael and Lewys, were able to showcase their abilities during and after the Rockstart AgriFood program and this gave us the confidence to invest a second time with strong new partners, the Swiss Startup Group.”

The fund secured €22m (approx. US$26M) and is aimed at facilitating investments in agritech and food tech startups and co-invest in its AgriFood portfolio companies till the series B round. It will focus on backing solutions for a regenerative and sustainable future. Since 2019, the fund has invested in 20 startups and these have collectively raised over €10m(approx. US$1.2m). With over 600 applications in just the last three months, it will make new investments this summer.

“Lyfa convinced us because they cover two very strong trends. E-groceries and sustainability,” said Max Meister, general partner at the Swiss Startup Group. “Both topics will develop very strongly in the future. In addition, the complementary and motivated founding team convinced us. Last but not least, we liked the compelling implementation of the MVP.”

Read: This App Calculates Your Food Footprint With Your Grocery Store Receipts

Lead image courtesy of Rockstart.