Verdane and Canica invest in Porterbuddy for greener and more user-friendly last mile delivery

Verdane, the Northern European specialist growth investor, has announced its investment in Porterbuddy, the fast-growing logistics technology platform setting new standards for greener, personalised and convenient delivery for online shoppers.

Porterbuddy launched its delivery service in Oslo, Norway in 2017 and has experienced strong growth the last two years. Focusing on smart use of technology, digital interfaces and machine learning, the company’s proprietary technology platform optimises the use of available infrastructure in the logistics market allowing local couriers to use their excess capacity. The platform enables direct integration in the online shopping and checkout process, making life easier for both consumers, couriers and online retailers. Porterbuddy is already an important enabler for several Verdane and Canica portfolio companies, such as Blush.no, Komplett.no, Jernia and Farmasiet.no.

“The Porterbuddy team is thrilled to partner with Verdane and Canica on our next stage of growth. Our logistics technology platform offers the market’s best solution for greener last mile home delivery. By partnering with Verdane and Canica, we can scale faster, connecting retailers, logistics hubs and couriers to offer consumers great shopping experiences,” says Henrik Gerner-Mathisen, CEO and co-founder of Porterbuddy.

A good offering for last mile delivery is essential to the continued success and accelerated growth of online retailers. One of Porterbuddy’s many innovative features is offering the customer to go back and shop more on the same delivery, from multiple sites, even after check-out. This provides a unique pathway to lowered emissions.

 

“Home delivery in urban areas generates traffic. Our smart route planner algorithm consolidates orders from different sites into one delivery. And while traditional logistics services do not systematically coordinate multiple purchases into one delivery, we only need one stop to deliver on promise – saving online retailers and consumers valuable time while reducing traffic and thereby also emissions. Our strategy of increasing utilisation of electrified cars and bicycles will further increase this positive effect,” says Gerner-Mathisen.

Porterbuddy will leverage Verdane’s comprehensive experience from investments in 30 e-commerce companies, including successful businesses such as Boozt, Desenio, RoyalDesign, and Safira. Similarly, Porterbuddy will benefit from Canica’s comprehensive retail- and e-commerce experience from investments in Orkla, Komplett.no and Jernia.

“We are proud to welcome Porterbuddy to the Verdane family. Henrik and his team have built an exciting company which offers consumers and online retailers fast, user-friendly delivery services with a lowered carbon footprint. We look forward to supporting Porterbuddy together with Canica on the journey to become the leading last mile delivery company in Norway and other markets,” says Bjarne Kveim Lie, Managing Partner at Verdane.

Verdane is investing together with Canica. The two will be joint majority owners of Poterbuddy following the transaction. The parties have agreed not to disclose the terms of the investment.

 

About Porterbuddy

Porterbuddy is a fast-growing logistics technology platform setting new standards for greener, personalised and convenient last mile delivery for online shoppers. Focusing on smart use of technology, digital interfaces and machine learning, the company’s proprietary technology platform optimises the use of available infrastructure in the logistics market allowing local couriers to use their excess capacity. The platform enables direct integration in the online shopping and checkout process, making life easier for both consumers, couriers and online retailers. Porterbuddy’s smart route planner algorithm consolidates orders from different sites into one delivery. The company only need one stop to deliver on promise – saving online retailers and consumers valuable time while reducing traffic and thereby also emissions. Porterbuddy launched its delivery service in Oslo, Norway in 2017 and has experienced strong growth the last two years. www.porterbuddy.com

 

About Verdane

Verdane is a specialist growth equity investment firm that partners with ambitious Northern European tech-enabled businesses to help them reach the next stage of international growth. Verdane pioneered portfolio acquisitions in Northern Europe in 2003, and announced a complementary fund strategy entirely dedicated to direct investments in 2018. Verdane’s eight funds hold €2bn in total commitments and have made over 120 thematic investments into category leaders in digital consumer, energy & resource efficiency and software businesses. Verdane’s team of 62, based in Berlin, Copenhagen, Helsinki, London, Oslo and Stockholm, is dedicated to be the best growth partner in Northern Europe. www.verdane.com

 

About Canica

Canica is a large privately owned investment company operating out of Norway and Switzerland. Our investments are focused on active, long-term ownership, primarly within sectors covering retail, fast moving consumer goods, financial investments and real estate.

Canica can offer core expertise within the fields of business development, retail, brand development and finance, as well as capital and network in order to create value and employment in a long-term perspective.

Canica has office in Oslo, Norway and Pfäffikon, Switzerland and was founded in 1985 by Stein Erik Hagen.

 

Press contacts

Henrik Gerner-Mathiesen
CEO, PorterBuddy
+47 951 24 110
henrik@porterbuddy.com

Bjarne Kveim Lie
Managing Partner, Verdane
+47 918 15 508
bjarne.lie@verdane.com