BurdaPrincipal Investments (BPI), the growth capital arm of media and tech company Hubert Burda Media, has invested in UK-based Oddbox, a platform that is leveraging technology to fight food waste.   BPI has invested a total of £16m, comprising a combination of primary and secondary investment. 

The new funds will be used to accelerate Oddbox’s contribution to fighting food waste by enhancing their customer experience, expanding their UK footprint and increasing sharing options for their employees. BPI joins Oddbox’s existing investors, Mercia Asset Management and Seedrs, who led a £3m funding round in March 2020.

Oddbox delivers fresh fruit and vegetable boxes with produce rescued directly from farms which is at risk of going to waste to sustainably conscious consumers via a weekly subscription, alongside tailored recipes and data analysis highlighting a personalised measurable positive impact on the planet.

One third of the food grown in the world is wasted. In the UK alone over 3 million tonnes of food is wasted at farm level for being ‘too’ big, ‘too’ small, or ‘too’ many. And when food goes to waste, so does the energy, water and time that went into growing it. This means that if food waste was a country, it would rank as the world’s 3^rd biggest contributor to greenhouse emissions, behind only China and the USA. 

To make a measured dent in this waste, Oddbox has rescued 18,834 tonnes of fruit and veg (which equals the amount of food 40,943 people would eat in a year), prevented 20,830 tonnes of carbon emissions and saved 2,028 million litres of water (that’s how much water 34,300 people would drink in their lifetime). 

Oddbox was founded in 2016 by wife and husband team Emilie Vanpoperinghe and Deepak Ravindran. The company has registered an exponential six-fold year-on-year growth in revenue in 2020 and has a highly loyal and engaged community.

“We are very inspired by Emilie and Deepak, the Oddbox founders, with their clear and authentic purpose to tackle food waste and the impressive and scalable platform they have built to enable this. We are delighted to be joining the journey to accelerate this mission”.   

Amelia Townsend, Principal, BurdaPrincipal Investments. 

“With our recent growth we’ve identified key areas for Oddbox to develop and further our mission to fight food waste. So while we continue to retain majority stakes, we wanted an investor to help make these developments happen, and importantly who also shares our vision that business is a force for good. We’ve found that in Burda, as they’re committed to long-term sustainability, a principle at the core of Oddbox.”

Emilie Vanpoperinghe & Deepak Ravindran, Co-Founders, Oddbox

Mercia first invested in Oddbox in March 2020 through its Northern Venture Capital Trust (VCT) Funds. Ishaan Chilkoti of Mercia said: “Oddbox offers a compelling proposition for today’s ethical consumers. Since our initial investment, the company has grown rapidly and embarked on a nationwide expansion plan. This latest funding will enable the team to make an even bigger impact.”

— Ends—

Hubert Burda Media are also owners of Immediate Media the UK’s largest food publisher including brands such as BBCGoodFood, and Olive Magazine.

For further information on BurdaPrincipal Investments’ impact and ESG review; https://www.burdaprincipalinvestments.com/blog/content/impact-esg-review-2020/.

Oddbox is a community-powered weekly rescue mission to save delicious, fresh fruit and veg which is deemed ‘too big’, ‘too ugly’, the ‘wrong’ colour, or ‘not needed’ from going to waste. It delivers its boxes directly from the growers to people’s doorsteps across London, the South and the Midlands.  With food waste being a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, Oddbox is building a community that together can play its part in fighting food waste and tackling climate change. With nearly three million boxes delivered since it launched in 2016, Oddbox has already saved 18,834 tonnes of food waste, the equivalent of how much food 40,943 people would eat in a year, with a goal of saving 150,000 tonnes by 2025.