Swedish startup Karma has raised $12 million to cut food waste

Karma founders Elsa Bernadotte, Mattis Larsson, Ludvig
Berling, and Hjalmar Ståhlberg Nordegren.
Karma

• A Swedish startup that sells spare food from cafes and
  supermarkets at a discount has raised $12 million.
• Karma’s Series A round includes US investor, Bessemer,
  in an ongoing trend of American capital flowing into Nordic
  startups after the success of Spotify and Supercell.
• Karma could provide a cheaper alternative to takeaway
  startups like Deliveroo.

A European startup that sells off spare food from local cafes and
supermarkets at a discount has raised $12 million (£9.4 million)
from investors, including US firm Bessemer Venture Partners.

Karma is headquartered in Sweden and expanded to the UK earlier
this year. It partners up with supermarkets, restaurants, and
even food delivery services to sell off leftover food direct to
consumers, who then go and pick up their discounted items
directly.

The startup wants to help reduce food waste, but it has the bonus
side effect of providing consumers with a cheap alternative to
takeaway services like Deliveroo.

The Series A round was led by Swedish firm Kinnevik, appliance
manufacturer Electrolux, e.ventures with Bessemer also taking
part. US startup investments in Europe are slowly ticking up, and
American backers are particularly interested in the Nordics after
the success of companies such as Spotify, Supercell, and Zendesk.

Karma’s restaurant partners include Mayfair restaurant Aubaine,
Italian chain Polpo, and Caravan. While it has supermarket
partners in its home market of Sweden, it doesn’t have any
British supermarkets on board yet.

Hjalmar Ståhlberg Nordegren, CEO and cofounder of Karma, said in
a statement: “We are delighted to announce this investment which
will accelerate our mission to reduce food waste globally.”