SoftBank leads USD 230m secondary placement for Gousto

The deal, which follows a primary fundraise that valued the company at USD 1.7bn in January, marks the entry of Fidelity International, Grosvenor Food & AgTech and Railpen in Gousto's share register. SoftBank has increased its holding in the company through additional investments in latest placement, according to a statement.

Gousto will harness the technology expertise of its new and existing investors to transform the grocery market and reduce food waste and carbon emissions in the food supply chain. It will seek to further grow in the UK.

Grosvenor Food & AgTech (formerly Wheatsheaf Group) is an international investor in food and agriculture businesses.

Sky News reported last year that Rothschild had been mandated to help prepare the Gousto for an IPO. The company also appointed Katherine Garrett-Cox as chair ahead of the potential flotation, according to the report.

Softbank Vision II launched in June 2019 with a USD 108bn target and held a first close in October 2020 on USD 5bn (EUR 4.3bn). The fund held an interim close in November 2020 on USD 10bn (EUR 8.6bn), according to Unquote Data. The vehicle invests in technology companies worldwide with a primary focus on artificial intelligence. The GP committed USD 30bn to the fund in May 2021. Last month, SoftBank Vision II backed Paack, a delivery company based in Barcelona, in EUR 200m round which valued the business at EUR 1bn, as reported.

Previous funding
In December 2013, MMC Ventures led a USD 2m round for Gousto and in the next year Unilever Ventures led a GBP 5m Series A funding round for the business alongside MMC.

In 2015, Gosto secured GBP 9m provided by MMC, BGF, Unilever and Angel CoFund. In March 2018, it raised another GBP 28.5m from BGF, MMC, Angel CoFund and Hargreave Hale.

In January 2019, BGF, MMC, Unilever Ventures, Hargreave Hale and Angel CoFund participated in a GBP 18m funding round for Gousto. Then in July 2019, Perwyn led a GBP 30m funding round for Gousto, with participation from existing investors BGF, MMC, Canaccord Genuity and Unilever Ventures.

Perwyn, BGF and MMC participated in a GBP 33m funding round for Gousto in April 2020. The company secured another GBP 25m from existing investors including BGF and Perwyn in November 2020, following this round the company was valued at USD 1bn.

The company
Gousto was founded in 2012 by Timo Boldt and James Carter and is headquartered in London. It provides a boxed meal delivery service which provides customers with recipe's and ingredients to prepare each meal. The company currently employs more than 220 staff in its tech team and expects to expand to about 500 people by the end of 2022.

According to 2020 accounts, Gousto posted 2020 revenues of GBP 189m and EBITDA of GBP 18.2m in 2020, versus a loss of GBP 9.1m in 2019.

People
Gousto – Timo Boldt (CEO, founder).
Grosvenor Food & AgTech – Katrin Burt (managing partner).

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• Topics
• Expansion
• UK / Ireland
• Technology
• United Kingdom
• Softbank