Martie, Ecommerce Discount Grocery Platform, Raises $7M

As it looks to expand its team to match its fast-growing footprint, discount grocery ecommerce platform Martie has raised $7 million in a new funding round led by Upfront Ventures, the company announced this week.

Founded in 2021 by CEO Louise Fritjofsson and Kari Morris, Martie sells shelf-stable overstock food, beverage and household essentials, purchased directly from the brands, at discount prices via its website. Martie promises consumers up to 70% off the sticker price of name brand products and to date it has offered goods from over 2,500 companies, ranging from large CPG multinationals such as PepsiCo and General Mills to premium-positioned startups like Fly By Jing and OffLimits.

The new investment includes funding from Upfront Ventures, a previous backer in Martie’s pre-launch round, as well as new investor Day One Ventures, which has a portfolio covering a variety of tech-aligned startups as well as consumer businesses.

Prior to founding Martie, Fritjoffson had founded and led several startups, including digital marketing firm AdProfit and peer-to-peer fitness instruction business Vint. She had been working to develop a CPG portfolio business but quickly found overstock to be an issue, one in which there were concerns that selling off excess inventory to a dollar store could impact brand image and equity.

“Martie is really focused on ‘how do we build an experience that brands want to be associated with,’ where it’s super clear to the consumer that it’s a one-time opportunity because there was overflow here and once it’s gone, it’s gone,” she said.

According to Fritjofsson, Martie is currently growing at a rate of around 30% month-over-month with a full-time team of just seven people. The new financing, she said, will go towards expanding the company’s team of buyers and marketing roles.

Thus far, Martie’s marketing efforts have been minimal and growth has come primarily through word of mouth. Brand awareness has increased through earned media as well as some limited social media marketing, and customer acquisition costs, she said, are currently averaging in the single-digits dollar-wise.

“I think in today’s market you live or die by your customer acquisition costs,” she said.

While Martie’s platform is targeted towards a broad range of consumers, Fritjofsson said much of its existing user base has trended towards suburban and rural zip codes with an average age of 45. Around 80% of its consumers are women and many of the households are families.

Currently available in 48 states (save for Hawaii or Alaska, which are unlikely to be added anytime soon, Fritjofsson said), Martie is now looking to expand its offerings. The platform currently has products for sale from around 500 brands at any one time, but Fritjoffson hopes to eventually increase that range to upwards of 3,000 products at once within the next two years.

As well, Fritjoffson is thinking beyond the grocery store, with plans to eventually offer all manner of product categories, pointing to businesses like TJ Maxx and Homegoods as models.

As for business outcomes, a stretch goal, she suggested, is to explore an IPO. While she has sold companies she founded in the past, Fritjoffson said she believes Martie has potential to stand on its own, although it will still be at least “a few years” before the business is ready to go public.

“Our loyal shoppers save on average $600 a year on essentials, on their groceries, on their cleaning supplies. So building a huge company, and knowing that it is affecting millions and millions of people’s lives is really a huge driver for me personally to build this company,” she said.