(AGENPARL) – Rome, June 28, 2024
(AGENPARL) – June 28, 2024 Press Release 2024-229-EN
June 28, 2024
Czech e-grocer Rohlik receives €90 million loan from EIB for growth Rohlik accelerates geographic expansion in DACH and CEE region Rohlik will use the EIB loan to strengthen its digital infrastructure and automation.
The fundraising marks the first initiative of the EIB Scale-Up initiative, which aims to bridge the gap between early-stage venture debt and traditional bank lending for growth companies.
The loan is aligned with the EIB’s Digital Europe programme
The transaction will benefit from guarantees from the European Commission's InvestEU programme.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide a €90 million loan to Rohlik, a leading Czech e-grocer operating in Central and Eastern Europe, to strengthen the company's digital progress and growth prospects.
Rollic will use the EIB loan to deploy advanced digital technologies and expand into new markets across Europe. The company will benefit from guarantees from the InvestEU program, which supports research, development, innovation and expansion of digital technologies and services, notably through artificial intelligence, robotics and automation. The loan marks the first venture from the EIB's Scale-Up Initiative, which supports more advanced growth companies like Rollic.
“This loan marks the first operation under the EIB Scale-Up initiative, which aims to support growing companies that are more mature than early-stage venture debt borrowers but cannot yet be financed through conventional debt instruments,” EIB Vice-President Kyriakos Kakoulis said. “It underlines our commitment to fostering innovation and digitalization across Europe, particularly in sectors that are crucial to the competitiveness of our economies.”
Rohlik is one of the European Union's most prominent native digital grocery platforms and one of three Czech startups with “unicorn” status, valued at over $1 billion. Headquartered in Prague, the company is contributing to the development of the Czech technology sector.
“Rolic is typical of the type of growth companies the EIB is looking to support with its Scale-Up initiative,” said Jean-Christophe Laloux, head of the bank's lending and advisory business. “As European growth companies approach the end of their growth phase, they often find themselves in a position where they need significant capital but cannot access traditional bank financing, leaving them with fewer financing options than their international peers. The EIB's Scale-Up initiative is designed to fill this market gap.”
“We are seeing huge demand across Europe for online grocery that is delivered quickly and reliably without compromising on quality,” said Tomáš Čupr, founder and CEO of Rohlik Group. “We don't see this as a short-term phenomenon, but a long-term opportunity to build a market-leading proposition. At Rohlik, we have built a technology that leverages AI, ML and robotics technologies and our obsession with customer service to drive maximum efficiency and high productivity, delivering on that promise in a sustainable and profitable way. This funding will enable us to accelerate our growth, open facilities in over 10 new cities and set the standard for online grocery delivery across Europe.”
Rohlik caters to families who want to buy a wide range of specialty goods and save time. The company's high level of automation has resulted in a profitable operation and a fast delivery network.
The EIB's support will accelerate Rohlik's investments in research, development and innovation, including advanced fulfillment automation technologies and AI-powered inventory management. These efforts aim to strengthen Rohlik's market position against global competitors and ensure sustainable growth in the evolving e-grocery market.
The EIB Scale-Up initiative targets growing companies and aims to bridge the gap between early-stage venture loans and traditional bank loans, which is in line with the EIB’s goal of promoting innovation and sustainable growth in Europe, as well as its InvestEU programme.
Background information
About the EIB
The European Investment Bank is the European Union's long-term lending institution, owned by its member states. It provides finance and expertise to projects that contribute to EU goals. Working closely with partners in the public and private sector, the EIB Group supports sustainable investment, job creation, economic growth and innovation across Europe.
About the EIB Scale-Up Initiative
The EIB's Scale-Up initiative was launched under the leadership of French President Emmanuel Macron and with the support of EU member states to provide crucial financing to European high-tech companies in their development stages. The initiative addresses the challenge of accessing sufficient capital within Europe for companies looking to scale up and compete globally with large technology companies. At its core is the European Tech Champions Initiative (ETCI), a fund of funds managed by the EIF, funded with €3.75 billion from member states and the EIB.
The initiative recognises that as companies mature, they require larger debt solutions aligned with their significant capital needs and reduced risk profile, while avoiding excessive equity dilution. Unlike traditional bank financing, which typically requires profitability and large assets, the EIB's Scale-Up initiative offers flexible financing structures that support growth without equity participation. This approach is crucial for companies like Rohlik, which, regardless of their size and market position, are in the growth phase but lack the established cash flow stability or strong asset base required for traditional bank financing.
About InvestEU The InvestEU programme provides crucial long-term financing for the European Union by leveraging significant private and public funds to support a sustainable recovery. It also helps mobilise private investment for EU policy priorities such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. InvestEU brings together in one a number of EU financial instruments previously available to support investment in the European Union, making the financing of investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and flexible. The programme consists of three elements: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund will be deployed through implementing partners who will invest in their projects using EU budget guarantees of €26.2 billion. The overall budget guarantee will support implementing partners' investment projects, increasing their risk tolerance and mobilising at least €372 billion of additional investment.
About Rohlik Founded in the Czech Republic in 2014, Rohlik Group has established the industry model for online grocery and is rapidly becoming the food retail technology leader in Europe. With best-in-class assortment, fast and reliable delivery, and leveraging cutting-edge technology and automation at every step, Rohlik is redefining the customer experience, delivering better quality, efficiency and sustainability than quick commerce and traditional grocery models.
Rohlik offers the widest and most differentiated product assortment (17,000 SKUs) in the online grocery industry, ranging from fresh foods from local farmers and artisans to supermarket items and private labels. It also offers reliable delivery times of under 15 minutes and same-day delivery available within 1 hour of booking. 97% of Rohlik's deliveries are on time.
Rohlik is active in the Czech Republic (Rohlik.cz), Hungary (Kifli.hu), Austria (Gurkerl.at), Germany (Knuspr.de) and Romania (Sezamo.ro) and is growing rapidly.
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