Online food retailer Rohlik raises EUR 190 million from investors, plans expansion into Germany

The online food retail store Rohlik Group has raised EUR 190 million from investors. The company plans to use the money to speed up expansion in existing and new markets as well as for investments into new technologies and service improvement, Rohlik states in its press release. The news follows Rohlik’s earlier success in the January bond market, where the company raised a further CZK 1.7 billion.

The main investors are French fund Partech, which currently holds an 8.3 percent stake in the company, the British-American fund Index Ventures and another French fund called Quadrille Capital. Two banks, the EBRD and J&T Bank, are also on the list, as is wealth management firm R2G, which administers the money of several Czech businessmen such as Avast antivirus software founders Eduard Kučera and Pavel Baudiš. Finally, there is also Enren, a venture capital firm that has supported Rohlik from the start.

Omri Benayoun, a general partner at Partech, commented on his fund’s investment by saying that Rohlik is the most exciting players in the European online grocery industry. His counterpart at Index Ventures, Jan Hammer, said that Rohlik has been very efficient in creating one of the most exciting and fastest-growing food businesses in Europe.

Rohlik Group CEO Tomáš Čupr continues to be the majority shareholder, currently owning 56 percent of the company shares. He said in the press release that Rohlik expects its activity will kick-start the online retail market, forcing competitors to speed up their own game.

Aside from this cash injection, Rohlik’s five-year bonds also sold quickly when they were released in mid-January, raising the company a further CZK 1.7 billion, news site iHNed.cz writes.

As a well-established online retail store, Rohlik has so far done very well out of the coronavirus crisis during which frequent lockdowns have led to a reliance on delivery services. The company’s revenue grew by more than 100 percent in 2020, reaching EUR 300 million.

Rohlik has been operating in the Czech Republic since 2014 and has since also expanded into the Hungarian and Austrian markets. Currently servicing around 750,000 customers, Rohlik is planning to set up shop in Germany under the brand name Knuspr.de in the upcoming months.