Glovo is a Spain-based, delivery app founded in 2014 by Oscar Pierre, and launched in 2015 by himself and Sacha Michaud following an initial round of funding. Since mid-2022, Glovo has been a part of the Delivery Hero Group, a publicly traded German company.
Business
History
In 2014, after returning from his studies at Georgia Tech, where Pierre had discovered Postmates, he decided to set up his own startup that followed the American company's model.
Pierre and his partner at the time, Marta Ripoll, registered the company GLOVOAPP23 SL in September of that same year. Soon after, Ripoll left Spain to study. The company held its first meetings in a McDonald's.[1]
Following a pitch to potential investors at the Catalan Conector Startup Accelerator[2] program in 2015, Pierre met Sacha Michaud, a seasoned tech entrepreneur. In their first round of fundraising, Glovo successfully raised €140,000 mostly from small private investors, which helped them to get off the ground.
Initially, the company only operated in the Spanish cities of Madrid, Barcelona, and Valencia. By the end of 2015, Glovo was able to make its first international expansion in Italy through further rounds of funding.
In 2017, Glovo signed an exclusive delivery deal with McDonald's in a variety of Spanish and Italian cities[3] and led a Series B €25 million round with Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten and other investors.
By 2019, Glovo, after closing two rounds worth €150 million each, achieved a valuation that exceeded $1 billion and therefore joined Cabify as a Spanish Unicorn.[4] By this time, the company had already expanded to 26 countries and offered its services in more than 200 cities around the world.
In October 2020, in an effort to achieve profitability, Glovo's remaining Latin American operations were purchased by Delivery Hero (DH), a German company, in a deal worth US$272 million, leaving Glovo with just its Southern and Eastern Europe operations.[5] In September 2022, Glovo was fined $78 million for labor breaches in Spain.[6]
In December 2021, DH signed a deal to become Glovo's majority shareholder, acquiring an additional 39.4% stake of the Spanish delivery company.[7] The acquisition was completed in July 2022 and since then it has owned a majority stake in Glovo (94%).[8][9][10]
In January 2022, the company declared they were carbon neutral, claiming to be the first in its industry to achieve this target. Glovo also entered into a partnership with offset marketplace Pachama to purchase carbon credits that supported the Brazil Nuts Concessions and the Madre de Dios forest preservation projects in Peru, and the Jari Pará Forest Conservation Project in Brazil. This offset Glovo's carbon footprint by 25pc by the end of 2020, equivalent to more than 34,000 tonnes of CO2.
Finally, the company partnered with carbon finance consultancy group South Pole to expand its compensation initiatives to cover 100pc of its emissions. These initiatives include forest preservation, sustainable agriculture, energy-efficient cookstoves and renewable energy.[11]
Number of Employees
As of May 2023, Glovo employed 4,200 staff worldwide.[12] More than 80,000 self-employed riders delivered through the platform.
Platform Services
Glovo specializes in last-mile logistics, primarily connecting users with businesses, and couriers, offering on-demand services from local restaurants, grocers and supermarkets, and high street retail stores via its mobile app. One of their unique selling propositions includes an ‘Anything’ button where users can request couriers bring anything to their front door, so long as it fits in their bag.
Glovo also allows customers to leave feedback on the quality of services provided by the partner and courier.
Controversy
The matter of employment in the gig economy has caused much debate and it is an issue where national and EU action is gathering pace.[13] To combat legal issues with workers rights and employment status, the company launched The Courier's Pledge in October 2021. The initiative was developed in partnership with the non-profit organization Fairwork Project and as a program, upgrades the benefits and conditions for all couriers delivering through the Glovo app.[14]
Philanthropy
Impact Fund
In March 2023, Glovo announced The Impact Fund whereby a small portion of every order made through the app goes towards impact & sustainability projects. The Impact Fund is expected to generate €5M by the end of 2023.[15]
The project supports local communities, climate action initiatives, the digitalisation of small local businesses, close the gender gap in tech, and provide upskilling programmes for couriers. This includes funds that have been allocated to these projects since mid-2021.[16]
Ukraine
When Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Glovo was forced to suspend operations due to safety concerns. Less than 1 week later, Glovo recommenced operations in a limited capacity in 20 cities to provide support and relief for those affected by the war.[17]
In the first week of March, couriers in Ukraine completed 10,000 deliveries through the Glovo platform.[18] The company did not book any financial gains from the services in Ukraine and all profits went to partners, NGOs, and pharmacies. Glovo also created "support bubbles" in the app for Ukraine's armed forces while also donating to the Red Cross, providing humanitarian assistance across Ukraine.[19]
Since the start of the war, the company has used Glovo Access to serve more than 114,000 social meals, save 54,000 kg of food, and allow the donation of 1,300 charitable meals from Glovo Cook Rooms.[20]
