Pieter Pot raises 9 million for expansion

Dutch package-free online supermarket Pieter Pot has raised 9 million euros in a new capital round. The start-up wants to use the funds to facilitate further international growth and expand its product range.

Less waste

The Dutch start-up was founded two years ago by Jouri Schoemaker and Martijn Bijmolt, who wanted to do something about the enormous footprint of (plastic) packaging by delivering its products in reusable glass jars. The jars get picked up again with the next delivery. That way, customers do not have to drag heavy packaging around. Just over a month ago, Pieter Pot also launched in Belgium.

The company now has 70,000 Dutch and 10,000 Belgian customers. Another 30,000 customers are on a waiting list. Last week the online supermarket raised 9 million euros of fresh capital from various impact investors. Pieter Pot will use the money to help scale up the business and expand its range. One year ago, the start-up already raised 2.7 million euros.

Germany?

“With a circular delivery service like ours, where there are twice as much transport costs due to collecting the empty pots and cleaning them, the scale on which you operate is very important to achieve financial health. Therefore, we must seduce more and more consumers with this sustainable option”, says Schoemaker in a communiqué.

Pieter Pot, moreover, is looking beyond the Netherlands and Belgium. In a previous interview with Belgian newspaper De Tijd, Schoemaker already hinted at the possibility of Germany. With the fresh capital, nothing seems to stand in the way of this expansion.