Potager City

Potager City, whose innovative concept involves delivering ultra-fresh produce sourced directly from producers and whose head office is located in the Lyon region, has completed the first phase of a new round of fundraising with Crédit Mutuel Equity, subsidiary of the Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale group. The company's CEO Yoann Alarçon and his team will now be able to take its growth to the next level. The money raised will enable them to recruit around 100 people, to cover the whole of France and to make acquisitions with a view to diversifying the business. Potager City sells its products exclusively through digital channels, and is set to generate revenue of €5 million in 2017. It expects that figure to grow to €20-25 million in 2021.

The fundraising will be accompanied by bank financing totalling more than €5 million. Depending on the speed with which the company implements its plans and diversifies, a second phase of funding could be completed quickly.

In the space of 10 years, Potager City has become the leading specialist in delivering ultra-fresh boxes of fruit and vegetables sourced directly from producers, with operations in the Paris, Rhône-Alpes, Bordeaux and Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur regions. The company now has 100,000 customers, 75 employees and 500 suppliers in France. Potager City will move into three new regions in 2018: Alsace, Brittany and Hauts-de-France, using a new branch concept. The company has just launched a new version of its website, and is currently developing a mobile app. In the last few months, it has been expanding into the B2B market with Yuzzu, a service that delivers baskets of fresh, local and seasonal fruit to companies.

"Local, organic produce was a niche market when we started the company in 2007. Today, it has gone mainstream and consumers are driving demand. Potager City must take advantage of this major trend and strengthen its position as a dominant player in the market, because there are millions of people who now want a different, more responsible, way of buying food," explained Yoann Alarçon, founder and CEO of Potager City.

"We were attracted by the operational and financial effectiveness of Potager City's business model. We wanted to give Potager City the resources it needs for a rapid roll-out of its business, while remaining true to its values, respect for both consumers and producers, as well as uncompromising product-quality standards. These values are in tune with consumers' desire for a better, more responsible and fairer way of buying food," added the Crédit Mutuel Equity (formerly CM-CIC Investissement) team.

"Rhône-Alpes PME has been supporting Potager City's growth since 2014. We saw very early on that the company was providing a novel, effective response to the quality demands of consumers and the issues faced by producers, using the power of digital technology to reach the widest possible audience. After successfully establishing itself in several regions, Potager City is becoming a major brand in the fresh produce market," said Cyril Fromager.

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