Kyiv-based fruit and vegetable delivery service OVO has raised $150,000 from investment firms TA Ventures and IClub, the company announced on March 16.
Previously known as Kyiv Ovochi, OVO raised the money to improve its software and marketing and expand its services beyond Kyiv, to other cities. The company also plans to build more warehouses to manage online sales.
The pre-seed round took place in November, but the startup announced its results in March.
OVO is an online service that offers next-day delivery of fresh fruit and vegetables. Although it launched during the hard times just about a year ago, when the pandemic hit Ukraine, the firm’s turnover is already $110,000 a month.
Having invested in OVO, TA Ventures has become a minority shareholder.
This early-stage venture capital firm was founded by Viktoriya Tigipko, wife of Serhiy Tihipko, businessman and former pro-Russian lawmaker. OVO’s second investor IClub is a firm that consists of angel investors; it was founded by TA Ventures.
Oleg Malenkov, TA Ventures’ partner, said that a few months after the investment, OVO had increased its monthly revenue five-fold. It also opened its first warehouse. The company plans to open five warehouses in Kyiv by the end of 2021.
Igor Pertsiya, managing partner at IClub and venture partner at TA Ventures, said that OVO proves that “even a crisis doesn’t prevent good companies from attracting investments.”
This is the second investment round raised by OVO. In July 2020, it also attracted investment from Fedoriv Group, but the parties didn’t disclose the sum. Andriy Fedoriv, CEO and founder of the Fedoriv marketing agency, received a minority stake.
The company spent money on the relaunch of its IT infrastructure, advertising and rebranding.
OVO plans to attract another financing round by the end of March, with an ambition to become the leader on the fruit and vegetable delivery market and to start delivering products much faster — in one hour instead of one day.
Roman Melkumov and Stepan Ziniakov founded OVO in April 2020, when the demand for food delivery soared amid the pandemic.
Initially, Ukrainians poured only $55 into their business — they spent $5 for a domain, $12 on the website, and spent the rest of the money on online promotion. Melkumov and Ziniakov packed and delivered orders on their own.
Now the company employs 30 employees and about 100 people place orders with OVO every day; the average bill is $35.
