Milan-based startup Bevy, which delivers water and everyday beverages, has raised $2 million pre-seed funding in a round led by the leading European Early Stage FoodTech investor FoodLabs. This marks the first investment by the investor in Italy.
Joining the round are notable business angels, including Matteo Pichi (Founder of Pokehouse) and Vincenzo Ferrieri (Founder of Cioccolati Italiani & Bun Burger). The proceeds of this round will be used to kick off Bevy’s Italian operations and grow its team as it operates with the mission to disrupt the European beverage market estimated to be worth over €375 billion.
“We’re proud to announce our first investment in an Italy-based startup, and we’re excited to be backing the ambitious Bevy team on their growth journey“, said Patrick Huber, General Partner at FoodLabs. ”Bevy is starting out to build a leading player in beverage delivery out of Italy, with a genuine focus on sustainability, committed to reducing PET in the beverage space.“
Delivers beverages at your doorsteps
Bevy was founded by Hendrik Wawers and Federica Lettieri in April with experience in Consulting and have worked with Berlin’s startup ecosystem for the past three years. They came up with the idea of this home delivery of beverages and water as they believe in the massive potential of the Italian talent. Recently, the company launched its same-day beverage delivery service.
Bevy solves the everyday problem that is too common in most parts of Europe, which is the issue of having to carry home water cases from the supermarket or discounter. Despite the rise of quick commerce players and supermarkets offering delivery services, there is a void in the market for the fast delivery of bulky products and beverages. Bevy comes in to tackle this issue as it delivers water and everyday beverages at the customer’s doorstep within three hours at supermarket prices and with no delivery fee.
“We want to make people’s everyday lives easier by removing the pain of carrying heavy water and beverage cases. Italy is the perfect market to launch this service as it is the country with the highest bottled water consumption per capita in Europe. Our vision is to become the top of-mind provider for beverages and all types of bulky products across Europe,” said Hendrik Wawers, Co-Founder of Bevy.
“In the past 20 years, only one Italian startup has reached unicorn status. That is odd considering Italy is the 4th largest economy in Europe and the sheer amount of homegrown tech talent. By becoming a Europe-wide category leader, we want to lay the foundation for a thriving startup ecosystem in Milan that can compete with the likes of Berlin and Paris in the long term,” said Federica Lettieri, Co-Founder of Bevy.
Brings about circular economy
The Italian startup does this in a more sustainable way as it makes it easier to purchase and return recyclable glass bottles, which removes the need for one-way plastic bottles. By implementing a deposit system, the startup wants to establish a circular economy that incentivises the return of used bottles. Doubling down on its sustainability goals, Bevy will deliver its products in electric vans to reduce its carbon footprint.
