Companies that were founded during the pandemic and actively fast delivery of goods from the supermarket (fast commerce), with several analysts noting that few will ultimately survive. The opening up of the economy, inflation and the rise in the value of money have created problems for companies in this sector whose models require large amounts of capital to become viable. These companies experienced explosive growth during the pandemic and are now forced to either reduce their operations or be taken over by other players. For example, German fast-commerce company Gorillas, which went unicorn just 9 months after its founding in 2020, laid off 320 people at the end of May and now plans to raise $250 million from existing investors at a lower valuation.

The Greek market has not been left out, as smaller start-ups operating in the field of fast commerce, in the absence of new funds, have found themselves in competition. The reason is the Ferto company of Michalis Sfiktou, Alexandru Theodoridis and Ekin Burak Otztürk, who, according to her app, is “joining the team” of Takis Malaveta’s pop market. Ferto was founded in January 2021 to develop a platform through which the consumer orders products from partner stores (small local supermarkets, fruit shops, butchers, pharmacies, flower shops, etc.), which the company’s distributors deliver to him at home within 20 minutes. . The company completed a €400,000 investment with US investment capital from Plug and Play Ventures, and planned to raise €2.5-3 million this summer in a new funding round. However, according to information, Ferto was unable to obtain the desired funds, and even on favorable terms, as a result of which she preferred the option of acquiring it by the pop market.

It remains to be seen if pop will take advantage of the more than 200 collaborations that Ferto maintains with local stores in the southern suburbs and downtown Athens, but as everything shows, it is expected to acquire technology and – at least some time is her command. The pop market closes after a few months in the year of its presence in the market and promises to ship goods from the supermarket in less than 15 minutes. The company develops its own dark stores (warehouses), inside which the team prepares orders and sends them to application users. Similar services are being offered by the major player in the efood market, which is looking to grow stronger after the acquisition of Kiosky’s by the Mouchal group, as well as Wolt Market. Finally, despite the trend towards concentration in the Greek market, the Athens-based Rabbit emerged in April, which also promises to ship goods from the supermarket in just a few minutes.