Last week, Norwegian grocery delivery company Oda (formerly known as Kolonial) announced a $151 million funding round to pursue expansion efforts into Finland and Germany. The company is now valued at $353 million, marking a steep decline from its previous $900 million valuation just a year ago, making Oda no longer a "unicorn."
The new funding round brings the Company's total funding to $630.5 million. Oda was founded in 2013 by 10 friends and currently controls ~70% of the Norwegian grocery delivery market.
Oda has over the last eight years grown to become the sector leader in a category it arguably helped define in its home country. It was profitable in 2020 on revenues of €200 million, and it currently controls some 70% of Norway's online grocery ordering and delivery market based on its own particular approach to the model.
Munthe-Kaas, Oda's founder, explains that the current market conditions are reason for the down-round: "It is a natural result of simply having higher interest rates and higher risk premiums. It means that nothing has changed in the curve from the investment phase to profitability, but now the cash has a very different value than it had a year ago. That's just something you have to accept".
Oda received funding, split equally, from Summa Equity, Verdane, and Kinnevik (existing backer). Existing investors Rasmussen Group and Prosus also participated in the round in debt / equity swap. One prominent investor; however, is missing from the latest fundraise - Softbank (OTC: SFTBY). The mega-fund was an early investor in Oda (per its listed portfolio) however its tech heavy $100 billion Vision Fund has been decimated, with over $7 billion in valuation write-downs.
The home grocery delivery service boomed at the height of the pandemic; however, as we have returned to a new normal and as prices have gone up, consumers are less and less keen to fork out $10-15 on delivery fees and tips.
Oda is not the only company feeling the impact. MatHem, a Swedish grocery delivery and subscription company of which Kinnevik is also an investor, recently cut its valuation by 75%. Some are fundraising at lowered valuations while others are consolidating - as with Getir's recent acquisition of Gorilla. The grocery delivery market is incredibly crowded, and they are no longer riding the pandemic tailwinds.
Private companies across almost all industries are similarly experiencing the valuation crunch. Carta found that the number of startups repricing employee stock compensation is up 260% to ~18,600, when comparing quarter-over-quarter from Q2' to Q'3 in Q'3. Since employee stock compensation is tied to a company's valuation (to price individual stock options) this means that just as many companies lowered their valuations.