Getir, the rapid grocery delivery business that has launched in the UK and across Europe in recent months, has acquired startup firm BLOK to boost its operations.
The addition of BLOK, founded in February 2021 and currently operating across several cities in Southern Europe including Madrid, Barcelona and Milan, will provide Getir immediate access into Spain and Italy, with Portugal soon to follow. Getir will also take on board BLOK’s existing team of more than 120 employees.
Getir was founded in 2015 in Istanbul and has grown rapidly in recent years. After their market entry in London in January and in Amsterdam in May, Getir entered Berlin and Paris in June.
The company’s most recent Series D funding round valued the company at more than $7.5bn as gears up to launch across several cities within the US by the end of the year.
“As a business we have always strived to work with the people, and to innovate what we do to make the market a stronger and more successful place. Bringing in BLOK, who have had a monumental year since launching in February, is an exciting opportunity and one that compliments our business approach and belief that speed is our currency. BLOK is our first acquisition and we wanted to make sure that whoever we brought onboard was the right cultural and ethical fit for Getir,” said Nazim Salur, founder of Getir.
“We strongly believe that BLOK, with their local knowledge and ongoing success in Spain and Italy, will allow us to become a part of these local communities and ensure best-in-class service across Southern Europe.”
Vishal Verma, co-founder of BLOK, added: “We are very excited to join hands with the pioneers of ultrafast delivery on our shared goal to lead the on-demand grocery market in Southern Europe.
“This acquisition allows us to leverage Getir’s deep industry know-how, relationships and technology, while combining that with our world class team and execution capabilities to create a formidable leader in this part of the world. We’ve had a great response from all our launches in Spain and Italy and can’t wait to double down on our efforts alongside Getir.”
Faster, on-demand delivery is the latest frontier in the battle for grocery shoppers with other start-ups such as Fancy, Weezy, Dija, Zapp, and Gorillas taking on established players like Deliveroo and Uber Eats. Asda also entered the market this week, hot on the heels of Tesco’s new Whoosh rapid delivery service.
