His George Lampiris
As a move more or less expected consider those who had watched both the development of the Greek startup, Myrmex, and its cooperation with Ocado in recent times, a fact that has now led to the full acquisition of the first by the second at a price of 10.2 million.
Myrmex was founded in 2015 by Giannis Canellos and Orestis Fenekos and had developed a fully automated ordering system in central supermarket warehouses.
Through this innovation, the whole process of product selection is done by collecting products from self-propelled robotic vehicles.
This construction enables the saving of resources to the companies that are active in the retail sector, as it does not require human intervention, while the robots are essentially the ones that prepare the orders to be delivered to the customers.
The company is currently headquartered in Silicon Valley, while the research and development department remains in Greece and specifically in Ilioupoli.
It was preceded by the acquisition of 9% of Myrmex shares in 2020
We will remind you that already in October 2020, Ocado had acquired a minority stake, which corresponded to 9% of Myrmex shares, investing significantly in the technology of the Greek company and in the know-how of its executives.
Myrmex sought to enter into partnerships with Greek supermarket chains, however, as we are informed, there was no response and reflexes that its executives would expect from the domestic market.
In order for the start-up to be able to support its operation, it has been in search of investment funds lately with the aim of further developing it. Eventually Ocado showed interest in acquiring 100% of its shares and the rest is now part of the story.
Regarding the founding and administrative executives of Myrmex, namely Giannis Canellos and Orestis Fainekos, as well as the managing director of the company, George Katiniotis, remain in the company under the new regime created after the acquisition. The main reason is that Ocado, in addition to innovation, acquired the know-how of Myrmex executives.
In search of new facilities with the prospect of doubling the technical staff
In fact, at this time, Myrmex, whose research and development facilities in Greece are located in the area of ​​Ilioupoli, where the company’s original headquarters were housed when it was founded, is looking for a new building in Attica.
The reason is that in the near future it is expected that the employed technical staff of the company will double, which currently consists of 30 engineers.
The specific staffing move with additional employees comes as a direct consequence of the agreement with Ocado, which creates increased needs in the field of research and development of new technologies.
Myrmex, currently a member of the Ocado Group, will be part of the group’s new technology development division, Ocado Technology, which currently employs 2,500 engineers.
In terms of financial figures, Ocado is a group that had a turnover growth of 7.2%, amounting to 2 2.5 billion with EBITDA at εκα 61 million, from 73 73.1 million in 2020.
Source: Capital
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