Spanish-founded and now Spanish-backed: Jinn closes $7.5 million Series A led by Samaipata Ventures

Jinn, delivery startup based in London, has closed a $7.5 million Series A round led by Samaipata Ventures, the Madrid-based VC fund launched by La Nevera Roja’s co-founder José del Barrio.

TechCrunch has all the details.

Jinn has healthy unit economics and growth, according to data I’ve seen which was shopped around to potential investors late last year. That said, participation of Samaipata Ventures looks strategically like a good fit.

In a call, Jinn co-founder and CEO Mario Navarro tells me the startup is now seeing 50,000 monthly orders via its app in Central London just two years after launch. This, he says, equates to an annual run rate of $25 million in sales (that is revenue passed through the app, not Jinn’s cut alone), and seeing the company grow 30 per cent month on month with customers ordering on average once a week. Perhaps crucially, Jinn is now also hitting an average delivery time of 32 minutes, down from 45 minutes six months ago.

This is not the only Spanish connection of the UK-based startup. Jinn’s co-founders (Mario Navarro, Leon Herrera, Joseba Mendivil) are all Spaniards who move to London in recent years.

The way Jinn operates is very similar to Barcelona’s Glovo, which to date has raised more than €2 million from investors. The app lets you order anything locally for delivery.

Jaime Novoa: Jaime Novoa is the Founder of Novobrief. He is a technology writer turned investor at Madrid's K Fund. He was also a data analyst at Tech.eu.