Norwegian Online Grocery Store Oda Raises $150M for Expansion

Norwegian online grocery store Oda has raised 1.5 billion Norwegian krone (about $150 million).

The firm said the capital came from both new and existing investors and will enable it to expand its offerings in Norway, Finland and Germany, according to a Tuesday (Dec. 6) press release.

“With this funding in place, Oda is well positioned to continue revolutionizing the grocery industry, while also making everyday life easier and more affordable for our customers,” Oda CEO Karl Munthe-Kaas said in the release.

The company said in the press release that while it is continuing its international expansion, the current financial market has led it to reduce the scope and pace.

“We are now making a necessary adjustment to our international growth strategy,” Munthe-Kaas said in the release. “We will focus on our current initiatives in Finland and Germany, and plan to seek profitability in existing markets before expanding to other countries.”

Founded in 2013, Oda delivers groceries to customers’ doorsteps and established a profitable business in Norway before expanding to Finland and Germany. In 2021, the company made an operating profit of 29 million Norwegian krone (about $2.9 million) in Norway, according to the press release.

Last year, Oda reduced its prices to match competitors in the discount market, and in recent months, its sales in Norway are up between 15% and 20% year over year, the release said.

Representatives of two of the companies that contributed new equity to Oda — Martin Gjolme of Summa Equity and Staffan Mörndal of Verdane — said in the release: “We are impressed by how Oda has reinvented grocery shopping. The company has developed an efficient logistics and distribution system, which makes online grocery profitable and sustainable.”

PYMNTS reported in July that the food delivery space has been having a rough time, particularly in Europe.

Since the beginning of the year, the United Kingdom’s Deliveroo and Germany’s Delivery Hero have lost about half their value on the stock market.