Instant-delivery platform Jokr raises 144 million euros

Jokr, an instant-delivery retail platform from German entrepreneur Ralf Wenzel, has raised 170 million dollars (144 million euros) from investors. The funding round comes barely four months after the startup launched in Europe and the Americas.

The Series A round was led by GGV Capital, Balderton Capital and Tiger Global Management. The company is current in seven countries across the globe. In the Americas, it’s present in New York City (where it’s also headquartered), Sao Paolo, Mexico City, Bogota and Lima. In Europe, the ecommerce startup has launched in Warsaw and Vienna, with more cities to come.

Jokr: launched by the founder of Foodpanda

“We are already able to show to investors that it’s not only a high-growth business but also a business that we are able to run efficiently”, founder Ralf Wenzel told Reuters. In the past, the German entrepreneur also founded Foodpanda, which later merged with Delivery Hero.

Jokr promises to deliver within 15 minutes.

Jokr is one of many startups that promise to deliver groceries or other goods to consumers within 15 minutes. This startup lets its customers use an app to order items, which are then transported from one of many storefront locations that operate as micro-fulfillment centers for Jokr.

‘We want to make things easy and fast’

“Our mission in life is to make things easy and fast. We love to simplify the shopping experience, refine it, minimize waste, and support small businesses in every neighborhood we go to”, the company explains on its website.

Jokr promises the same prices as the local supermarket and no minimum order value. Its revenues doubles every two weeks and Wenzel told Reuters he truly believes the world needs a new Amazon. “There is an opportunity to create a faster Amazon, a more personalized Amazon, a more sustainable Amazon and a more local Amazon.”

The world needs a new Amazon.

According to Wenzel, the typical new Jokr customer first buys just one or a few items to try out the delivery service. But then, many of them will go on and make several larger orders a week to replace their traditional grocery shopping. “We grew significantly faster than what we thought, but the fast growth was not on the back of significant burn or discounting. The fast growth was backed by a lot of organic momentum – very strong word of mouth, very strong retention rates, very strong stickiness.”