Mercato Raises $26M

E-commerce platform connects consumers to independent grocery stores, specialty markets

4/9/2021

Mercato will expand the capabilities of its platform to extend beyond e-commerce, continuing to support merchants with business intelligence, marketing and additional services.

To keep up with tremendous online growth, e-commerce platform provider Mercato has raised $26 million in Series A financing.

Mercato helps independent and specialty grocers compete with larger chains in an always-on, instant gratification world where online ordering and two-hour delivery are not options but expectations.

With last year’s boom in online grocery shopping due to the pandemic, Mercato helped grow its merchant sales by 1,300%. The company expects to more than double that this year as new shopping habits that developed during the pandemic stick.

With the new funds, Mercato will expand the capabilities of its platform to extend beyond e-commerce, continuing to support merchants with business intelligence, marketing and additional services.

The latest financing round was led by Birmingham, Michigan-based Velvet Sea Ventures with participation from Team Europe, the investing arm of Lukasz Gadowski, who co-founded Delivery Hero. Existing investors and partners Greycroft and Loeb.nyc also participated.

Velvet Sea Ventures co-founder Michael Lazerow will join Mercato’s board of directors, and its other co-founder, Kass Lazerow, will be instrumental in advising Mercato as it grows its business.

San Diego-based Mercato currently operates in 45 states nationwide, connecting consumers to more than 1,000 independently owned grocery stores and specialty markets. In 2020, the company added more than 400 specialty grocers and market halls to its platform.