Droppe
Founded 2020 · 13 employees on LinkedIn · 8 known investors
Droppe operates an online store selling occupational safety and workwear products—such as safety shoes, high-visibility clothing, protective gloves, respirator masks, and work trousers—from brands like New Balance and Nitras. The site serves buyers of workplace safety equipment and lists prices in euros with a German-language market interface.
Also known as Droppe Oy
Founders & leadership
Droppe was founded in 2020 by Henrik Helenius.
Investors · 8
Also in the syndicate · 6
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Droppe is a Finnish business-to-business distribution company that operates a "Source-to-Order" platform through which organisations source, order and manage operating supplies such as occupational safety gear, personal protective equipment, workwear, footwear, gloves, paper products and packaging materials. The platform combines a product catalogue with order management, smart catalogs and coordination of recurring, cross-organisational supply needs, and it carries technical product and standards data intended to let buyers compare items objectively.
The company's storefront lists products from brands including New Balance, Sparco, Nitras and Nitras Medical, Blaklader, Portwest, Volcom, DC Shoes, Reebok and HKS Safety Shoes, with prices in euros, per-brand minimum order values, stated delivery lead times and both VAT-inclusive and VAT-exclusive price views. Buyers can also submit a request for quote for products they are looking for. Fulfilment relies on direct supplier-to-customer shipping, which Droppe describes as removing intermediary storage, repackaging and additional logistics steps and shortening supply chains. Customer-facing terms include 30-day free returns on unused items, delivery to a pickup point, home or workplace, email order tracking, and payment by invoice with a 14-day term, Klarna, PayPal, credit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, with an emailed receipt usable for employer reimbursement.
Founding story
Droppe was founded in 2020 by Johannes Salmisaari and Henrik Helenius, with Salmisaari serving as CEO, to bring B2B distribution of industrial and operating supplies online [3][4][6].
Business model
Droppe sells operating supplies to businesses through its own online platform, connecting European brands and suppliers directly with buying organisations rather than holding intermediary stock; suppliers ship directly to the customer. For brands, the platform is positioned as an online distribution channel plus an order management system and a data engine offering insights on demand and market expansion across Europe [3].
Sales of third-party branded safety, workwear, paper and packaging products to business buyers via the platform, with per-brand minimum order values and prices shown incl. and excl. VAT [0][2].
Traction
The site states that over 50,000 professionals use Droppe (an earlier page cites over 40,000 customers); the company reports having helped more than 1,500 firms move from manual sourcing to automated procurement, with over 150 European brands and 200+ suppliers on the platform [0][2][3][4].
Latest developments
In June 2024 Droppe announced a €3.9 million funding round led by OpenOcean, earmarked for platform development, growing its supplier, product and standards database, and recruiting commercial staff in Helsinki and Cologne [3][4].
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
Positioned as a digital alternative to traditional B2B distribution methods for industrial and operating supplies in Europe, with more than 150 European brands in safety, workwear, paper and packaging reported as adopting its platform and over 200 suppliers meeting EU standards listed, including Portwest, Nitras Safety, Ansell, Buff, Abena, BodyProducts and UniGloves [3][4].
Direct supplier-to-buyer transactions that avoid intermediary storage and repackaging, a catalogue built around EU product standards and technical data for objective comparison, and combined ordering plus order-management and analytics tooling for brands [3][4].
Technology
A Source-to-Order platform providing sourcing, ordering and order management, smart catalogs, a supplier and product database with associated technical product and standards data, procurement automation, and a data engine matching demand with supply for brands [3][4].
Go-to-market
Direct online self-service purchasing with a multi-language, country-specific storefront (Germany/German and English), a request-for-quote flow, chat and email customer support, a buyer newsletter, and social channels. Following its 2024 round the company planned to hire commercial talent in Helsinki and Cologne to serve its European customer base [0][2][3].
Operations and procurement teams at small and large European businesses buying safety equipment, PPE, workwear, footwear, gloves, paper products and packaging materials; the site is also used by individual professionals purchasing workwear for employer reimbursement [0][2][3].
Geography
Headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, selling across Europe; the storefront operates a Germany-focused market in German and English with German-language customer support contact, and the company planned hiring in Helsinki and Cologne [0][2][3].
History
Founded in 2020 in Helsinki, the company raised a seed round (reported by Forbes as $2.4 million; described in a 2023 Aaltoes founder event as a €2.2 million seed) and was recognised on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe Manufacturing & Industry 2023 list. In June 2024 it announced a €3.9 million round led by OpenOcean with participation from existing investor Lifeline Ventures, Illusian Family Office and angel investors, and said the capital would fund platform development, expansion of its supplier and product database, and commercial hiring in Helsinki and Cologne [3][4][5][6].
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 2
launches, deals, and filingsDroppe closed a €3.9 million round led by European early-stage VC OpenOcean, with existing investor Lifeline Ventures, Illusian Family Office and angels including Miki Kuusi and Marianne Vikkula (Wolt), Ilkka Paananen (Supercell), Robert Gentz (Zalando) and Mikko Silventola. Reported by Vestbee as $3.9 million.
$3.9M source ↗
Cofounders Henrik Helenius and Johannes Salmisaari were included in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe Manufacturing & Industry 2023 list.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Droppedroppe.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Droppe do?
- Helsinki-based B2B platform for sourcing and ordering workwear, safety equipment, paper and packaging supplies.
- Who founded Droppe?
- Droppe was founded by Henrik Helenius in 2020.
- Who are Droppe's investors?
- Droppe's investors include Lifeline Ventures, OpenOcean.