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Gorillas raises $44M for its German dark stores

Published on January 6, 2021

Key facts:

  • Gorillas, a German dark stores startup, just raised $44M to fuel its expansion.
  • It offers 10 minutes grocery deliveries.
  • Launched in January, Gorillas has grown fast and now expects to be available in 15 cities across Germany and Europe by the end of the first half of 2021
  • Inspired by the US dark store leader, GoPuff, is somewhat a B2C equivalent to Choco, another German startup. It is acquiring sizeable traction by spending a lot of capital to acquire end-users before moving to a profitable business model.
  • Gorillas charges less than €2 per delivery and shows very affordable prices.

Why it matters – DigitalFoodLab’s opinion:

Dark stores are the new hot thing. A few weeks ago, former Deliveroo executives raised $20M to launch their own venture in the UK, DoorDash launched its own dark stores, and Glovo announced its renewed focus on the area.

Gorillas is taking the competition to a new level. With a 10-minutes delivery promise, it is redefining what immediacy is. However, when GoPuff’s prices are significantly higher than those of traditional supermarkets (to compensate for the fast delivery), Gorillas’ current prices (see below) are very low. You can get a bottle of water (less than a Euro) delivered at your door in Berlin for €3 total… One can only wonder about this model’s sustainability and how consumers will react when prices inevitably rise.

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