Company · Marketplace & E-commerce

Buo

shopbuo.com ↗ ·Barcelona ·Seed

Buo was a Barcelona-based online supermarket that let households join buying groups to negotiate lower grocery prices (roughly 30% below retail) by sourcing lesser-known but comparable-quality brands, later pivoting toward selling surplus/off-price food. Founded in 2021 by the Pulpo team, it raised a €2M round led by Mangrove Capital Partners and ran an operational partnership with Glovo, but ceased operations in November 2023 after failing to reach sustainable unit economics.

Founded

2021

Founders

News

Rounds

Investors

SectorsGrocery e-commerce, Social/group-buying commerce, Food waste reduction Start-up MapMarketplace & E-commerce › Vertical e-commerce retail

Profile updated 31 Jul 2026

Founders

Borja Solé

Co-Founder & Co-CEO

Carlos Costa

Co-Founder & Co-CEO

—

Rubén Vilar

Co-Founder & CTO

Global models 5

Pinduoduo

China · www.pinduoduo.com ↗

Pioneered the group-buying e-commerce model at massive scale, the same core mechanic (buyers team up for lower prices) Buo applied to groceries.

$1.7BComparable

Meesho

India · www.meesho.com ↗

Social/group commerce platform where users organize group purchases through personal networks, mirroring Buo's group-buying approach.

$1.36BComparable

Misfits Market

United States · www.misfitsmarket.com ↗

Online grocery retailer selling discounted/surplus and off-grade food direct to consumers, matching Buo's later surplus-supermarket pivot.

$526.5MComparable

Too Good To Go

Denmark · www.toogoodtogo.com ↗

Marketplace connecting consumers with surplus food from retailers at discounted prices, the same food-waste-driven savings model Buo moved toward.

$300MComparable

Imperfect Foods

United States · www.imperfectfoods.com ↗

Subscription grocery service selling surplus and cosmetically imperfect produce at a discount, closely matching Buo's surplus-food business model.

$229MComparable

Investors 1

Mangrove Capital Partners

www.mangrove.vc ↗

Investor Luxembourg

Funding rounds 1

Seed · €2M

Buo, the Barcelona group-buying online supermarket founded in 2021 by Rubén Vilar, Carlos Costa and Borja Solé (the team behind Pulpo), rais…

2022-06-20

News & media 1

Published	Article
2023-11-21	Qué podemos aprender del cierre de Buo: su fundador explica las claves de su decisión ↗ Marketing4eCommerce