Dundee-founded Snappy Group has secured a seven-figure lending facility from Virgin Money to support investment in its retail technology and marketplace platforms and accelerate their rollout to UK retailers. The precise value of the facility has not been disclosed.
The funding, provided by Virgin Money’s Venture Debt team, will support investment across the group’s product range as demand from larger retailers grows. Snappy says the agreement also gives it additional capacity to pursue growth opportunities in the UK and selected international markets.
The company reports record transaction volumes across its platform, with annualised grocery gross merchandise value exceeding £150m. That measure is distinct from the group’s revenue.
Barry McGonagle, chief financial officer at Snappy Group, said: “We are delighted to secure this facility with Virgin Money at such an important moment for Snappy. Demand for our products and services is growing rapidly, transaction volumes across the platform are at record levels, and the market opportunity in front of us is significant.
“This facility adds further firepower alongside previous equity investments and gives us the capital and flexibility to accelerate into that opportunity with confidence. We have known the team at Virgin Money for several years and are pleased to be partnering with them as we enter this next phase of growth.”
Founded in 2017, Snappy has expanded from rapid grocery delivery into a wider retail technology business. It operates through three divisions: Snappy Shopper, its marketplace and rapid delivery platform; Snappy Technologies, which provides order aggregation and white-label technology; and Snappy Media, its retail media arm.
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The group says demand for its order aggregation product is growing, with major global retailers in discussions. Co-op, SPAR and Musgrave NI have selected Snappy as their preferred partner to expand their rapid grocery delivery offerings.
Andrew Stirrat, senior director of venture debt at Virgin Money, said: “We have closely tracked Snappy Shopper’s progress over several years and have been consistently impressed by the strength of the business and its sustained growth. We are delighted to support one of Scotland’s leading scale-up technology companies through this lending facility and look forward to backing the next phase of its ambitious expansion.
