Flashfood grocery app
Toronto-based Flashfood, a mobile marketplace that provides customers with access to discounted food nearing its best-by date, has raised $12.3 million in Series A funding led by S2G Ventures. The app allows users to browse through available deals at participating stores near them. Customers can also purchase items directly in the app and then pick up their order from the Flashfood zone in their participating store.
The app was founded based on Flashfood CEO Josh Domingues’s personal experience in 2016. His sister, who was a chef, called him one night distraught saying that she had to throw away $4,000 worth of food. Domingues thought it was a joke but was shocked to learn that the food was from a catered event and that throwing out uneaten food was the norm in the food and grocery industries. After months of researching, Domingues thought about creating an app that lets you buy food nearing its best before date at a discounted price, after which Flashfood was born.
Founded in March 2016, Flashfood has numerous grocery partners across Canada and the United States, including Giant, Loblaw, Giant Eagle, Tops, Family Fare, Stop & Shop, Tops, Price Rite Marketplace and more. Flashfood says it has saved shoppers over $100 million on their grocery bills and that regular shoppers save more than $540 per year on average through the app. The company also says it has diverted more than 34 million pounds of food from landfills.
As for the new funding, Domingues says the investment will be used to support the company’s continued expansion in the United States and allow it to work toward a more sustainable food system.
“The funding will be used to expand our U.S. presence to offer more shoppers discounted grocery items that would otherwise end up in landfills,… In addition to expanding Flashfood’s footprint through new grocers and other strategic partnerships, we’re also investing in our technology to make Flashfood accessible to a broader base of consumers.”
Flashfood CEO Josh Domingues
Flashfood’s Series A investment included participation from ArcTern Ventures, General Catalyst, Food Retail Ventures, Rob Gierkink and Alex Moorhead. S2G Ventures managing director and founder of OpenTable, Chuck Templeton, will also be joining Flashfood’s board of directors.
Flashfood grocery app
