CANADA – Sustainable Produce Urban Delivery (SPUD), a Canadian online grocery service has raised US$8.2 million (CAD 11 million) to advance its online delivery platform, Food-X Urban Delivery.
The investment, led by CIC Capital Ventures and backed by existing investors, including Walter Capital Partners, enhances consolidation of orders which SPUD said will enable decrease the costs of online fulfilment and reduce environmental impact.
Food-X’s first location opened in Burnaby, British Columbia, earlier this year and more locations are expected to open in 2019.
“The grocery industry is changing, and Food-X provides a solution to innovative retailers everywhere as they deal with evolving consumer trends, the impact of the online market shifts and the delivery of fresh foods.
“Customers care about sustainability, and we are proud to have partners who recognize that our unique platform offers a better, faster and more efficient fresh, healthy grocery delivery solution.
We are pleased to welcome CIC, who we view as an active, value-added partner, to our shareholder base.
CIC has significant experience in the online European grocery market that will prove beneficial as we expand Food-X outside of North America,” said Peter van Stolk, CEO of Food-X and SPUD.
Founded in 1997, Sustainable Produce Urban Delivery, or SPUD.ca, is an online grocery service operating in British Columbia and Alberta that predominantly focuses on selling organic groceries.
The firm launched Canada’s first fresh food delivery platform facility, Food-X in September this year.
The 74,000 square-foot warehouse facility utilizes proprietary technology to provide sustainable home food delivery for local and national grocery retailers.
It includes Rapid Pack Algorithm that decreases packing time along with wasted space in packed orders, picking software that uses AI to deliver instructions to warehouse packers, and proprietary delivery route optimization software that utilizes real-time data with an end goal of lowering retailers’ overall carbon footprint.
These technologies enable Food-X to deliver fresh food for their retail customers across Metro Vancouver faster, more sustainably and with less plastic.
