Zero Reveals $11.8M in New Seed Funding

Startup offers “most sustainable” 2-hour grocery delivery in U.S.

2/3/2022

Having removed excess plastic from the supply chain and only using reusable or compostable containers, Zero provides more than 2,000 diverse products.

Zero, a plastic-free grocery, home and personal care delivery startup, has closed $11.8 million in new seed funding led by Sway Ventures, bringing the total funding raised to date to $16.5 million. On Jan. 10, the company launched what it calls “the fastest, most sustainable online grocery store in the United States,” offering customers eco-friendly free deliveries in less than two hours.

“We started off as a membership business, designed for early adopters, which was a great foundation for us,” said Zuleyka Strasner, founder and CEO of San Francisco-based Zero. “Now, as we’re moving into the next growth chapter of the company, our focus remains on servicing our customers in the very best way possible. Zero today is not only faster than most other players in the market, but also retains and continues to build a supply chain of high-quality, organic and eco-friendly products, which has filled an important gap in the market. Better products, delivered plastic-free, more affordably and in under two hours — it’s without compromise.”

Having removed excess plastic from the supply chain and only using reusable or compostable containers, Zero provides more than 2,000 diverse products, from groceries and fresh produce to cold-chain and frozen items, to organic beauty products and household items.

“We are proud to support Zero as they move into this exciting stage of the business,” noted Ken Denman, general partner at Sway Ventures, which has its headquarters in San Francisco and Stockholm. “We believe in the mission of this bold and nimble startup, that aims to reshape the grocery delivery market by ticking all three essential boxes for a successful delivery service model: sustainability, speed, and affordability.”

Last year, Zero more than doubled its customer base with expansion into the Los Angeles and the Bay Area markets, whose combined plastic-free orders prevented the equivalent of 35,000 plastic bottles or 60,000 plastic grocery bags from going to landfills. Since its free same-day delivery was launched at the beginning of this year, the company’s rate of growth has tripled, indicating the huge consumer demand for a grocery delivery service that focuses both on environmental impact and on convenience.

In September 2020, Zero raised $3 million in a funding round, bringing the total at that time to $4.7 million since the company’s launch in 2019.