Curbside drive-thru grocer JackBe raises $11.5 million in capital funding
The company says the investment will fast-track expansion
April 4, 2023
JackBe, the premier curbside drive-thru grocer, today announced it has raised $11.5 million in capital to fast-track development and expansion of the business. The funding has come from various individual investors and strategic partners such as GP Investments, LLC, as well as a successful WeFunder campaign. Its business model is making curbside pickup profitable by redesigning the grocery shopping experience to meet and fulfill the needs of customers through on-demand, pick-up orders.
“We invested in JackBe because of the team’s ambitious and innovative vision to transform the grocery shopping experience to convenience, simplicity, and exemplary service. It’s a refreshing, new approach to grocery shopping for the working family to an elderly couple. We love the niche focus on expert customer service and think they will achieve an overwhelming response from lifetime shoppers,” said Michael and Charity Woodard, investors. “Alex, the CEO has a strong vision and leads with Christian values. This shared vision will help drive the company forward as it scales. We were most impressed by his willingness to allow families with his shared passion and vision to be a part of the JackBe family. We believe in JackBe, we believe in the team, and we believe that JackBe will become a family staple.”
With JackBe, customers eliminate in-store shopping and gain the ultimate in convenience Customers place an order anytime, anywhere, on the easy-to-use JackBe mobile app, drive to the location and have fresh, handpicked groceries delivered to their car in minutes.
JackBe opened its first store in Oklahoma City in January 2023 as a market disruptor. JackBe is building their stores around solving the drawbacks often found with traditional grocery pickup: limited availability, dictated pick up time slots, lack of quality products, and substituting out-of-stock items. Instead JackBe offers customers the ability to place an order anytime & anywhere, and to pick up when they want. It is also the only grocer that guarantees no substitutions 100% of the time. In addition, every item is hand-picked and it carries exceptional produce with an emphasis on freshness and food safety. There are no membership or delivery fees as it operates with an efficient store footprint focused on convenience.
Every industry is subject to disruption, and grocery is no different. The traditional business model of in-store shopping doesn’t fit with some of today’s convenience-minded, tech savvy shoppers. JackBe’s technology-powered drive-up grocery model is right on track to offer an excellent alternative to the mix of grocery options.
As the future of grocery shopping continues to evolve, drive-up grocers look to be a segment that will expand in the grocery space.
E-commerce firm Mercatus predicts that online grocery shopping will double to $200-plus billion by 2026, with curbside pickup among the fastest-growing segments.
Findings from “The ConnectedEconomy™ Monthly Report: The Gender Divide Edition,” which drew from a survey of more than 2,600 U.S. consumers in October, revealed that 45% of men and 36% of women buy groceries online for curbside pickup, more than said the same of any other digital grocery channel.
"We believe that grocery shopping can be better and have embarked on a mission to make buying groceries 'nearly' fun again. With our seed funding and pre-series A funding, we’ve built and opened the first premier curbside drive-thru grocer in the U.S., to serve people in and around Oklahoma City. Our first store is paving the way to take our concept to suburbs nationwide,” said Alex Ruhter, CEO of JackBe. “The investment validates our concept as well as our vision to foster a fundamental shift in the way people shop for groceries. We look forward to quickly expanding, offering individuals and families alike curbside grocery convenience without compromising on customer care, value nor quality.”
About JackBe
JackBe is re-imagining grocery shopping by creating a chain of stores dedicated to being the premier curbside drive-thru grocer. It seeks to be humble, honest, and respectful to its customers with the end goal of making them feel valued and giving them the gift of time. It’s on a mission to make buying groceries 'nearly' fun again. With JackBe, customers can simply place an order anytime, anywhere, on an easy-to-use mobile app, drive to the nearest location and have fresh, handpicked groceries delivered to their car in minutes. Innovation and the ability to be “JackBe nimble, JackBe quick” is at the core of all the company stands for now and in the future.
For more information, visit JackBeNimble.