Shopping Delivery firm chooses city for UK base
❝ We are also looking at how this can improve sustainability in driving down emissions and waste levels. Becoming carbon efficient is a key goal for Buymie Kevin Hughes
AFAST-GROWING Irish tech startup has chosen Bristol as its UK headquarters and launch base.
Mobile app Buymie offers an ondemand groceries service, with its team of personal shoppers delivering from large supermarket chains including Tesco, Asda and the Co-op.
The company has developed an algorithm, named ‘Jarvis,’ which allows customers to select from thousands of brands on their devices and delivered within the hour or a time of their choosing.
Founded in 2015 by Devan Hughes and Artavazd Sokhikyan, Buymie has experienced a 500% year-on-year growth rate, with the company’s chief product officer Kevin Hughes, formerly of Google and Airbnb, working with developers to transform the app into a scalable platform that intelligence.
The platform also uses motion sensors on mobile phones to help shoppers improve their delivery service in terms of traffic management and product shelf location.
The environmentally-conscious firm is looking to drive growth and technical development through a EUR10m investment round, with an eye to expanding its service across the UK and increasing its use of Tesla electric vehicles and cargo electric bikes.
The company said it had chosen Bristol to kickstart its UK operations and to “become immersed in the city’s thriving tech sector.”
Kevin Hughes said: “Looking to the next 18 months or so, we are now embracing machine learning but with a difference.
“For us it is not about introducing robots, it is about how we can combine human thinking and uses opensource interactions with new ways of training data, specifically to automate predictions and forecasts in spite of all the variables this has.
“Critically, we are also looking at how this can improve sustainability in driving down emissions and waste levels. Becoming carbon efficient is a key goal for Buymie with our tech development a significant enabler to reach our target.”