Carrefour invests in instant-delivery startup Cajoo

The Carrefour Group will acquire a minority stake in Cajoo, a French startup that delivers groceries in under 15 minutes. For Carrefour, the investment is a way to speed up quick commerce in France. Cajoo operates in ten cities across France and has over 100,000 users.

The Carrefour Group announced it has entered into exclusive negotiations in order to acquire a minority stake in Cajoo, the startup that was founded only in February of this year.

Just five months after its launch, Cajoo is already operating in ten cities across France.

Just five months after its launch, Cajoo is already operating in ten cities across France where it serves more than 100,000 users. The startup offers delivery of almost 2,000 food and non-food products in under 15 minutes. It can do this thanks to its network of dark stores and its teams of order pickers and delivery staff.

Carrefour knows everything about delivering groceries

Carrefour is of course no stranger to delivering groceries. In 1994, the hypermarket chain started with home delivery from its hypermarkets and supermarkets located in large towns and cities in France. Five years later, the company launched its ecommerce food subsidiary Ooshop. And since 2011, Carrefour Drive offers on-site delivery. In 2019, Carrefour started offering its customers a 30-minute delivery service in France, Spain, Italy, and Argentina.

The round of funding will help Cajoo speed up its development in France and Europe.

The investment and partnership is focused in particular on replenishment and operations logistics in Cajoo’s dark stores. The round of funding will help Cajoo speed up its development in France and Europe.

‘Quick commerce emerged during the lockdown’

Elodie Perthuisot, executive director of ecommerce at the Carrefour Group, thinks quick commerce is an underlying market trend that emerged during the lockdowns and is now more and more established in consumers’ habits. “As the leader in home delivery in France, Carrefour is capturing this new trend and is exploring with Cajoo all value-creating strategic opportunities on this new high-growth segment”, she adds.