Alina Oprea • 30 March, 2023 at 2:30 PM
Glovo, one of the world's leading multi-category apps, announces the launch of the Impact Fund, the first project of its kind in the delivery platform industry, where a small portion of Glovo's proceeds from each order will be dedicated to supporting Impact and Sustainability projects. Globally, the company estimates that by the end of 2023, up to €5 million will be allocated from the Impact Fund to support projects that aim to support local communities, actions against climate change, digitization of small local businesses, reducing the disparity of gender in the field of technology and the development of educational programs for couriers.
This amount includes the funds that have been dedicated to financing projects of this type since mid-2021.
"It is essential that all companies engage in social and environmental actions. The Impact Fund will provide funding to address social and environmental challenges, support the digitization of small and medium-sized businesses, support initiatives for climate action, reduce the gender imbalance in technology, and fund educational programs for couriers. Glovo customers will support initiatives that create positive change for communities and the environment with every order," said Sébastien Pellion, Head of Impact and Sustainability at Glovo.
In 2023, the Impact Fund will consider the following pillars:
Reducing hunger: NGO partners can access Glovo's infrastructure for free to distribute products to their beneficiaries. Globally, more than 2,300,000 meals have been delivered and more than 1,100 tons of food have been saved from waste through the Glovo Access program since March 2020 to date. On the local level, Glovo permanently supports more than 10 non-governmental organizations through the Glovo Access program and runs a special project for more than a year and a half together with Kaufland and the Şansa Ta Association, in the form of a social canteen. In Romania, through the Glovo Access program, the company supports over 300 beneficiaries every month.
Combating climate change: Glovo is taking further steps to significantly reduce its carbon footprint by 2030. The Impact Fund will accelerate the reduction of CO2 emissions throughout the company's entire value chain by providing the resources needed to electrify the fleet or make available sustainable packaging through the Glovo Store to partners in nine countries, including Romania. Through these initiatives, in 2022, 8,800 tons of CO2 emissions were reduced along the company's value chain.
Digitizing local small businesses: Through the Glovo Local program, the company provides restaurants and small and medium-sized businesses with a set of dedicated tools and resources to digitize and increase their online visibility.
On a local level, out of the desire to be as close as possible to its partners, the company initiated the Glovo Atelier project, a series of webinars through which, with the help of Glovo specialists and industry experts, it offers partners current solutions applied to their needs. Also, in the last year, over 300 small or medium-sized businesses participated in a program that gave them increased visibility in the Glovo application, thus helping them reach as many customers as possible.
Educational programs for couriers: Locally, in partnership with BCR, Glovo has developed a financial education program for couriers that offers learning materials delivered by bank specialists. Also, in collaboration with Impact HUB Bucharest, Glovo organized an introductory entrepreneurship program for Glovo partner couriers who want to start their own businesses. During this five-day program, couriers had access to relevant information on creating a business plan, marketing, sales, or sustainability.
At the beginning of this year, Glovo launched the "Commitment for couriers" initiative in Romania, and a significant part of the program is the G-learning platform, through which all registered couriers have free access to online courses where they can choose from over 65 available online courses in fields such as marketing, photography, English language, IT, the management or personal and professional development. More than a quarter of these online courses are available in Romanian.
Aid to Ukraine: In 2023, the Impact Fund will invest €195,000 to help the Ukrainian people and support local NGOs helping war-affected communities. Since the start of the conflict, the company has delivered more than 114,000 social meals and 54,000 kg of food saved from waste through Glovo Access and facilitated the donation of 1,300 charity meals from Glovo Cook Rooms.