Kinnevik leads $12m series-A for Karma

Alessia Argentieri
16 August 2018

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Swedish private equity firm Kinnevik has led a $12m series-A funding round for Stockholm-based startup Karma.

US-based VC house Bessemer Venture Partners, previous backer EVentures and Swedish appliance manufacturer Electrolux also took part in the round.

Following this investment, the total funding raised by Karma since launch amounts to $18m.

The company will use the fresh capital to bolster its team from 35 people based in Stockholm to more than 100 staff across five countries by the end of 2019, and to 150 by mid-2020. In addition to this, the funding raised will be used by the startup to develop its product offering, especially within supermarkets, and expand further internationally.

Previous funding
After an initial angel round in 2015 and a seed round of $700,000 received from the Norrsken Foundation in 2016, Karma raised $3.4m in a funding round led by eEquity and EVentures in July 2017.

Company
Founded in 2015 and launched in Stockholm in November 2016, Karma is an online marketplace that enables restaurants and grocery stores to reduce food waste by offering their unsold products at a discounted price directly to consumers, who pick up the food on location. Since launch, Karma has spread to 150 Swedish cities working with around 1,500 retailers and attracting 350,000 users. The startup launched in the UK in February 2018 and is now also working with 400 restaurants in London.

People
Karma – Hjalmar Ståhlberg Nordegren (CEO, co-founder); Ludvig Berling, Mattis Larsson, Elsa Bernadotte (co-founders).
Kinnevik – Andreas Bernström (investment director).
Bessemer Venture Partners – Kent Bennett (partner).
EVentures – Jonathan Becker (partner).
Electrolux – Jonas Samuelson (CEO, president); Marty Carroll (vice-president digital marketing).