Just as though disrupting every industry wasn’t enough, Amazon is all set to give direct competition to Uber Eats.
Amazon invested a whopping $575 Million in European food delivery company Deliveroo.
Deliveroo completed its Series G fundraising round which was led by Amazon and witnessed participation from existing investors T. Rowe Price, Fidelity Management and Research Company and Greenoaks. The round imputes Deliveroo’s valuation at over $2 Billion and brings its total funds raised to date to just over $1.5 Billion.
Founded in 2013 by William Shu and Greg Orlowski, Deliveroo is an award-winning delivery service. The London based food delivery company currently operates in 14 countries, including Australia, Belgium, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and the United Kingdom. Across those markets, it has a partnership with 80,000 restaurants, a fleet of 60,000 delivery people and 2,500 permanent employees.
“Amazon has been an inspiration to me personally and to the company, and we look forward to working with such a customer-obsessed organization,” Will Shu said in a statement. “This new investment will help Deliveroo to grow and to offer customers even more choice, tailored to their personal tastes, offer restaurants greater opportunities to grow and expand their businesses, and to create more flexible, well-paid work for riders.”
It is unclear as to how Amazon would leverage its stake in the company as yet. Speculators, however, say that the tech giant could incorporate it into its premium Prime membership account. One thing that is certain is with Amazon’s backing, Deliveroo will definitely be able to boost its operations and accelerate growth.
