E-Grocery Shopping Platform Cooky Secures $4.5M Backing From Nextrans, Do Ventures

Cooky, a Vietnam-based e-grocery shopping platform, recently announced the success of the $4.5 million investment led by South Korean firm Nextrans and local VC Do Ventures. The goal is to accelerate its R&D to create more diverse and healthy meal kits that could be sold at affordable prices, their founders said in the media statement.

Moreover, the funding will also be allocated to focus on maximizing customer satisfaction by improving personalized services based on their needs.

Cooky is the perfect app for those who don’t have much time to cook — it provides excellent ready-to-cook meals with better pricing and a pioneering system built for farm-to-table distribution. Their meal kits, all of which come with portioned ingredients, contain everything needed to create healthy dishes at home.

Not only that, every single ingredient are selected carefully from reliable farms and brands in the country. Cooky chefs take care of every aspect of cooking preparation, from getting the right ingredients, weighing out exactly what you need, and providing the recipe, which means your meal will come together in 30 minutes or less.

When everything’s set, the orders will be delivered within one hour of order placement or at the customer's preferred time frame. And as the COVID-19 pandemic changed consumers' shopping habits, consumers have been buying more products and services from online markets. Similarly, risk perception associated with COVID-19 may influence people's food purchase and consumption behaviors.

Founded by the duo who launched food delivery app Foody, Minh Dang and Dai Nguyen, Cooky app currently has over 1 million downloads after 1.5 years of operation.

Cooky CEO Minh Dang, said they want to provide easy-to-make, delicious, and healthy meals for everyone who wants to eat well but does not have time to cook. “Our customers can leave behind the hassle of grocery shopping and cook whenever they want with no food waste.”

Nextrans believes that Cooky’s innovative model will make meal preparations more convenient as well as give Vietnamese people a healthier lifestyle. Seung-Ho Chae, managing director at Nextrans, sees the value in improving the grocery retail market in the country and make it more efficient and transparent.

Vy Le, general partner at Do Ventures, said that “with our busy schedules, Cooky is there to provide us with a comfortable way to prepare our meals without planning recipes and going to the supermarket.”

In a press release by Do Ventures, Le said she is thrilled to support a team with a proven track record and profound experience in FoodTech and supply chain operations. In addition, Le also expressed her trust in the track record of the founders in redefining the food delivery service in the country.

With the rapid adoption of online delivery solutions, Vietnam’s e-grocery market is expected to reach $1.5B by 2025, according to Cooky.