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10-minute grocery start-up Getir to buy UK rival Weezy

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An delivery driver from the Turkish delivery service Getir rides his bicycle.

Getty Images| picture alliance | Getty Images

LONDON — Turkish start-up Getir on Tuesday agreed to acquire British rival Weezy, in the latest sign of consolidation in the ultrafast grocery delivery market.

Istanbul-based Getir was founded to deliver essential products to customers’ doors within 10 minutes. It purchased Weezy in order to expand its reach into the U.K.

The company operates currently in 15 cities including London and Manchester.

Weezy was established by Kristof van Beveren, Alec Dent and two years ago. It experienced rapid growth as people moved to the internet for their daily shopping.

Now, it has more than 700 employees. This includes its delivery drivers. Weezy views its couriers differently to gig economy businesses that offer flexible work schedules.

Combining Getir with the new company, it will create a global workforce of more than 4,500 employees.

Turancan Salur (Getir’s U.K. general manger) said Tuesday that “teaming up with Weezy which has rapidly established itself throughout the U.K. is an exciting opportunity”

Europe has a successful online grocery delivery industry that is challenging established convenience and supermarket chains.

Getir as well other players, such as Germany’s Gorillas (Germany) and the U.K. Zapp (UK), have attracted customers by promising fast delivery times and great discounts.

After raising $550m in financing from investors such as Sequoia, Silver Lake and Tiger Global, Getir was valued last year at $7.75billion. The company has already raised more than 1 billion dollars.

Weezy has raised more than $25 million in venture capital from Left Lane Capital and Heartcore Capital prior to the acquisition.

This deal follows several other deals in this space, including one from an American grocery startup. Gopuff’s acquisition of British firms Dija and FancyDelivery Hero is a German food delivery firm purchase of a minority stake in Gorillas.

Analysts believe the market for rapid grocery delivery is entering a phase of consolidationThis is because so many different players are struggling to differentiate their offering.

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