Czech e-grocery business Rohlik gets €90 million EIB loan for growth

July 1, 2024 by European Investment Bank Leave a Comment

This article is published in association with European Investment Bank.

Rohlik to accelerate geographic expansion in the DACH and CEE regions
Rohlik to use EIB credit for bolstering digital infrastructure and automation.
Funding represents first EIB Scale-Up Initiative operation aimed at growth companies filling the gap between early-stage venture debt and traditional bank loans
Loan aligns with EIB’s Digital Europe Programme
The deal will benefit from a guarantee under the European Commission’s InvestEU programme

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending €90 million to Rohlik, a leading Czech e-grocery business that operates across central and eastern Europe, to bolster the company’s digital advances and growth prospects.

Rohlik plans to use the EIB credit to deploy advanced digital technologies and expand into new markets across Europe. The company will benefit from a guarantee under the InvestEU programme that supports research, development, innovation, and scaling-up of digital technologies and services, in particular through artificial intelligence, robotics and automation. The financing marks the first operation under an EIB “Scale-Up Initiative” to support more advanced growth companies such as Rohlik.

“This financing marks the first operation under the EIB Scale-up Initiative, which aims to support growth companies that are more mature than earlier stage venture debt borrowers but not yet bankable with regular debt products,” said Vice-President of the EIB, Kyriacos Kakouris. “It underscores our commitment to fostering innovation and digitalization across Europe, particularly in sectors crucial to the competitiveness of our economy.”

Rohlik is among the most prominent native digital grocery platforms in the European Union and one of three Czech start-ups with the “unicorn” status of being valued at over $1 billion. The company, headquartered in Prague, helps to boost the Czech tech sector.

“Rohlik is a prime example of the type of growth company that the EIB aims to support with its Scale-Up Initiative,” said Jean-Christophe Laloux, Director General, Head of Lending and Advisory Operations, “European growth companies have fewer financing options than their international peers towards the end of their growth phase, when they require substantial funding but are not yet bankable with traditional bank debt. The EIB’s Scale-Up Initiative was designed to help plugging this market gap.”

“There is huge demand across Europe for online groceries delivered quickly and reliably without any compromise on quality,” commented Tomáš Čupr, founder and CEO of Rohlik Group, “We don’t see that as a short-term phenomenon, but as a long-term opportunity around which to build a market-leading proposition. At Rohlik, we have built the technology to deliver on that promise in a sustainable and profitable way, leveraging AI, ML and robotics technology with our obsession with customer service to drive maximum efficiency and high productivity. This funding will allow us to accelerate our growth, opening facilities in more than 10 new cities, and set the standard in online grocery delivery across Europe.”

Rohlik caters to households seeking to buy a wide assortment of specialty products and to save time. The company’s high degree of automation enables profitable operations and fast-delivery networks.

The EIB’s support will accelerate Rohlik’s investment in research, development and innovation, including advanced fulfilment automation technologies and AI-driven inventory management. These initiatives aim to strengthen Rohlik’s market position against global competitors and ensure sustainable growth in the evolving e-grocery market.

The EIB Scale-Up Initiative targets growth companies to bridge the gap between early-stage venture debt and traditional bank loans. It aligns with the EIB’s goal to bolster innovation and sustainable growth in Europe as well as with the InvestEU programme.

Background information

About the EIB

The European Investment Bank is the long-term lending institution of the European Union owned by its Member States. It provides finance and expertise for projects that contribute to EU objectives. The EIB Group works closely with public and private-sector partners to support sustainable investment, job creation, economic growth and innovation across Europe.

About EIB Scale-Up Initiative

The EIB’s Scale-Up Initiative, launched under the leadership of French President Emmanuel Macron with support from EU Member States, aims to provide vital financing to Europe’s high-tech companies in their advanced stages of development. This initiative addresses the challenge of accessing sufficient capital within Europe for companies looking to scale up and compete globally with major tech firms. At its core is the European Tech Champions Initiative (“ETCI”), a Fund of Funds managed by the EIF, endowed with EUR 3.75 billion from Member States and the EIB.

The initiative recognizes that as companies mature, they require larger debt solutions tailored to their substantial funding needs and reduced risk profiles, avoiding excessive equity dilution. Unlike traditional bank financing, which typically requires profitability and substantial assets, the EIB’s Scale-Up Initiative offers a flexible financing structure that supports growth without equity participation. This approach is crucial for companies like Rohlik, which, despite their size and market position, are still in a growth phase without established cash flow stability or strong asset bases required for traditional bank loans.

About InvestEU

The InvestEU programme provides the European Union with crucial long-term funding by leveraging substantial private and public funds in support of a sustainable recovery. It also helps mobilise private investment for EU policy priorities, such as the European Green Deal and the digital transition. InvestEU brings together under one roof the multitude of EU financial instruments previously available to support investment in the European Union, making funding for investment projects in Europe simpler, more efficient and more flexible. The programme consists of three components: the InvestEU Fund, the InvestEU Advisory Hub and the InvestEU Portal. The InvestEU Fund is deployed through implementing partners who will invest in projects using the EU budget guarantee of €26.2 billion. The entire budget guarantee will back the investment projects of the implementing partners, increase their risk-bearing capacity and thus mobilise at least €372 billion in additional investment.

About Rohlik

Founded in 2014 in the Czech Republic, Rohlik Group has built the definitive industry model for online grocery, and is fast becoming Europe’s food retail technology leader. With best-in-class assortment, fast and reliable delivery, and powered by cutting-edge technology and automation at every step of the journey, Rohlik redefines the customer experience and offers superior quality, efficiency and sustainability compared to quick commerce and traditional grocery models.

Rohlik offers one of the broadest and most differentiated assortments available in the online grocery space (17,000 SKUs), ranging from fresh food from local farmers and artisans to supermarket goods and private label brands, and offers highly reliable 15-minute delivery windows and same-day deliveries available as soon as 1 hour after booking. Ninety-seven percent of Rohlik’s deliveries are on time.

Rohlik is active in the Czech Republic (Rohlik.cz), Hungary (Kifli.hu), Austria (Gurkerl.at), Germany (Knuspr.de) and Romania (Sezamo.ro), and is growing rapidly.

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