Business

Brazil's Liv Up announces BRL 180 million Series D funding

According to the startup, the investment will allow the company to accelerate its portfolio expansion project and increase investments in technology

LABS

17.Jun.2021 17:44 BRT
UPDATED 21.Jun.2021 14:51 BRT

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The company was born in 2016 with the proposal to deliver healthy, deep-frozen meals with organic ingredients;
The company says it made more than BRL 100 million in 2020 and plans to double revenues again this year.

Brazil‘s food tech Liv Up announced this Thursday a BRL 180 million round led by Lofoten Capital, a vehicle of Marcos Amino (former Discovery Capital) with the support of Luiz Otavio Campos (Former partner of Onyx Equity Management).

Series D had the participation of global strategic investors such as Rob Citrone (founder of Discovery Capital), Cadonau (an investment vehicle of Grupo Jereissati), Milton Seligman, and Ricardo Rolim (former Ambev executives), and Christian Egan (former Itaú). The funds ThornTree Capital Partners and KASZEK, already investors in the startup, complete the round.

To date, the company has raised around BRL 237 million. In the last round, in September 2019, Liv Up raised BRL 90 million.

According to the startup, the investment will allow the company to accelerate its portfolio expansion project and increase investments in technology to improve the consumer experience.

The company was born in 2016 with the proposal to deliver healthy, deep-frozen meals with organic ingredients provided by partnerships with 40 families of small producers.

The average order ticket of each Liv Up customer is around BRL 240, and the average ticket for each meal around BRL 24. The company operates with the model of planned purchase with frozen meals in distribution centers in more than 50 cities in Brazil and a cloud kitchen in São Paulo.

During the pandemic, Liv Up also started offering its customers fresh fruits, vegetables, and greens, supporting partner family farmers who had orders canceled by schools and restaurants that suspended activities. And it paid off: it increased customer retention and frequency of purchase.

Then, Liv Up started offering grocery, butcher, fishmonger, dairy, bakery, and grocery items, direct from the producers. “For now our focus for this year is to consolidate the operation in the cities where we already operate. Our main vertical is the Online Market (organic grocery, butcher and dairy products) for these locations, expanding the complete portfolio offer where we already work. But, surely, we are always attentive to opportunities to expand our operation to more cities and, who knows, to the region, in the future,” Victor Santos, CEO, and founder of Liv Up, told LABS.

The startup claims that its proprietary software enables production traceability, inventory management, and last-mile routing algorithm.

Liv Up currently has 150,000 customers registered on the platform. The company says it made over BRL 100 million in revenue in 2020 and plans to double revenue again this year. “Liv Up since its founding has been doubling in size year on year, proving its alignment with industry trends and ability to innovate and disrupt a traditional and essential market like food,” Santos said.

“The new strategies adopted have resulted in a significant change in consumers’ buying patterns, increasing purchase frequency and lifetime value. With the new capitalization, we will implement an accelerated growth strategy to continue doubling in size each year, expanding the reach of our shared value chain,” said Santos. The company currently has more than 600 employees and plans to reach 750 by the end of the year.