Start-up Oddbox raises £16M to expand its wonky fruit and vegetable service and reduce food waste

Sustainable food waste reduction platform Oddbox has secured £16M from Burda Principal Investments, the growth capital arm of media and tech company Hubert Burda Media.

Oddbox offers weekly delivery boxes made up of fruit and vegetables that do not meet supermarket requirements and would otherwise go to waste. Through a digital platform, customers are able to order boxes which are then delivered straight from growers to customers’ doorsteps. Currently the company delivers to addresses in London, the South and the Midlands.

Oddbox seeks to tackle the issue of food waste given that unwanted food is one of the major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. The company says it has saved 18,834 tonnes of food waste and delivered nearly three million boxes since it launched in 2016.

The new funds will be used to improve Oddbox’s digital platform, expand into new areas across the UK and increase the share options pool for their employees.

Oddbox Co-Founders, Emilie Vanpoperinghe and Deepak Ravindran, commented: “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.”

Amelia Townsend, Principal at Burda Principal Investments said:  “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”.