STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Kinnevik AB announced that it has become the leading shareholder in MatHem, Sweden’s leading independent pure-play online grocery retailer, increasing their stake to 38% — in a combination of primary capital and secondary shares.

“I am proud of our investment in MatHem, our third investment in the Nordic food sector,” said Georgi Ganev, CEO of Kinnevik.”This is a sector with huge potential given its significant share of household spend, its non-cyclical nature and attractive purchase patterns in terms of frequency and basket size. MatHem has built a strong brand and recently launched an updated platform which places the company in a strong position to continue to capture market shares as the shift to online accelerates within the grocery sector.”

MatHem is Sweden’s leading independent pure-play online grocery retailer with a strong household brand built over the past ten years. The company can deliver to more than half of the Swedish households and had a turnover of approximately $162,246,000 million (SEK 1.5 billion) in 2018.

Last year MatHem exceeded one million deliveries, highlighting the strategic value of a pure-play online grocery platform with regular and recurring delivery directly to people’s homes. MatHem’s partnership with Clas Ohlson is the first step to efficiently leverage that platform, delivering additional products and services on top of the company’s own food assortment.

“MatHem is ready to take the next step in its growth journey and with Kinnevik’s track-record of building successful digital brands and its insight into the digital consumer space, I believe that we have found the perfect partner,” said Tomas Kull, Chief Executive Officer of MatHem. “Building on our deep customer relationships, we will continue to develop our assortment and ensure a seamless customer experience to drive growth going forward.”

Closing is conditional on customary regulatory approvals and is expected during the first quarter of 2019.