Grocery delivery app HappyFresh launches in Southeast Asia with fresh funds

A new grocery shopping app named HappyFresh launched today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The app lets consumers order groceries directly from offline supermarkets, and the startup claims orders can be delivered in as little as one hour.

The startup plans to set up shop in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, later this month.

The new ecommerce company is supported by a seven-figure undisclosed round of pre-series A funding from a group of venture capital firms, international angel investors, and institutional backers, according to a statement. HappyFresh has not yet disclosed the identities of any investors. The company was founded back in October 2014. The service became available on an invite-only basis in February this year and opens to the public this month.

The company has seven co-founders, each with experience in the tech business. Markus Bihler serves as CEO, Fajar Budiprasetyo as CTO, Benjamin Koellmann as COO, Dr. Konstantin Lange as CFO, Kai Kux as CCO, executive chairman and investor Tim Marbach, and Stefan Jung from Monk’s Hill Ventures as advisor.

The team’s experience includes careers in Blackstone, Goldman Sachs, the Boston Consulting Group, J.P. Morgan, Rocket Internet, Lazada Group, as well as founding and exiting KaufDA in Germany and Koprol in Indonesia.

See: Finance and insurance portal nabs series A funding from Monk’s Hill Ventures

Time-strapped shoppers

HappyFresh claims to have signed exclusive partnerships with a number of stores in Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta – however, the firm has not yet revealed the names of any of its partners. One of the differentiating qualities of HappyFresh’s service comes from the fact that each order is fulfilled by personal shoppers who are permanently based at the partner stores, according to the startup. The app lets users schedule the arrival of its one-hour delivery option a few days in advance, giving shoppers a fixed time that they need to wait at home for the package to arrive.

With the challenge of fitting healthy meals into his busy schedule, Bihler describes how the idea for HappyFresh came about:

The only way was to eat out all the time. But we wanted to know what was going into our food and enjoyed being able to prepare simple meals at home with friends and family. Having fresh groceries delivered to your doorstep presented the solution.