Olio is a mobile app for sharing by giving away, getting, borrowing or lending things in your community for free, aiming to reduce household[1][2] and food waste. It does this by connecting neighbours with spare food or household items to others nearby who wish to pick up those items. The food must be edible; it can be raw or cooked, sealed or open. Non-food items often listed on Olio include books, clothes[3] and furniture.[4]
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Mobile app |
| Founders | Tessa Clarke, Saasha Celestial-One |
| Headquarters | , |
Areas served | Worldwide (currently in 49 countries) |
| Products | Food-sharing app |
Number of employees | 100 (2023) |
| Website | olioapp |
Those donating surplus food can be individuals or companies such as food retailers, restaurants, corporate canteens, food photographers etc., and donations can take place on an ad-hoc or recurrent basis. For example, some supermarket chains in the UK, including Tesco,[5] the Midcounties Co-operative,[6][7] Morrisons, Sainsbury's[8][9] and Iceland[10] have piloted Olio as an 'online food bank' to donate food and to reduce their waste. In March 2022, Olio partnered with Pandamart in Singapore.[11]
First launched in early 2015 by Tessa Clarke and Saasha Celestial-One,[12][13] by October 2017 the company had raised $2.2 million in funding.[14] Olio's Series A funding was led by Octopus Ventures, with investors such as Accel, Quadia and Quentin Griffiths contributing towards the $6 million that was raised.[15] The Olio app had around 7 million registered users as of May 2023.[16]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Martin Lewis says people are missing out on free cash - 'you may as well get cashback'". Daily Express (UK). December 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2023
- ^ "I've been using a food-waste app to snap up free food, including coffee-shop salads, cookies, and meat from grocery stores". Business Insider. September 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2023
- ^ "Save money on back to school costs as savvy parents cut £205 per child off bills". Daily Mirror. August 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2023
- ^ "The rise of reuse: How to furnish your home for free, from your bathroom to your kitchen". Evening Standard. August 2022. Retrieved 20 January 2023
- ^ "Tesco teams up with sharing app Olio to give away wonky fruit". The Grocer. 14 December 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- ^ "Banbury chosen to pilot food waste initiative". Banbury Guardian. 23 May 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- ^ "Midcounties Co-op teams up with food-share app Olio". The Grocer. 29 May 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- ^ "Morrisons teams up with food sharing app Olio to cut waste at south London store". The Grocer. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- ^ "Sainsbury's food waste communities sign up to Olio app". The Grocer. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- ^ "Iceland Launches Partnership With Olio To Offer Families Free Surplus Food". Grocery Gazette. 4 July 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2022.
- ^ "Food-sharing app Olio appoints Yien Li Yap to lead new Singapore operation". Eco Business. 26 April 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
- ^ "Feed thy neighbour? There's an app for that - Xanthe Clay tried out food-sharing app Olio". The Telegraph. 27 February 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- ^ "Food for London: Olio, the app matching surplus food to hungry Londoners". Evening Standard. 4 November 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- ^ "Don't Toss That Lettuce — Share It: A free food-sharing app aims to go global with a hyperlocal focus". Insights by Stanford Business (Stanford Graduate School of Business). 23 October 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- ^ "Olio, the app that lets you share unwanted food items with your neighbours, picks up £6M Series A". TechCrunch. 11 July 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
- ^ "The Olio story - An entrepreneurs journey - Building a sustainable business". Disruptive Innovator's Network. 18 May 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
External links edit
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