San Francisco-based food delivery startup DoorDash has just closed a funding round, through which they raised a whopping $535 million, giving them a valuation of over a billion dollars. The fundraising round was led by Japan’s SoftBank, with participation from Sequoia Capital, GIC, and Wellcome Trust.
DoorDash operates in the U.S. alongside a number of other tech-infused delivery and logistics startups, which include the heavily-funded Uber Eats and Postmates, operating in more than 600 cities across the country.
Up until now, DoorDash had raised $190 million.
With this fundraising, DoorDash said it plans to increase its investment in DoorDash Drive, a fulfillment service it launched 15 months ago that allows merchants to use DoorDash for orders made outside the DoorDash platform. The company also said it expects to nearly triple its presence in the U.S. to cover 1,600 cities.
This latest fundraising round has led the company to a valuation of $1.4 billion, making DoorDash the latest entrant into Silicon Valley’s Unicorn Club. “Unicorn” is a term given to startups that are valued at over a billion dollars.
“Our vision for DoorDash is to build the last-mile logistics layer to empower every business to thrive in the digital and convenience economy,” said DoorDash cofounder and CEO Tony Xu. “Today’s investment by the most forward-looking firms in the world accelerates our ability to achieve this vision.”
As part of the agreement, SoftBank managing partner Jeffrey Housenbold will join DoorDash’s board of directors.
“There still remains to be skepticism in our space,” Xu told Forbes about the fundraising process this time around. “On the flip side, I think it’s also become obvious that there are a few winners emerging. We really felt like now was a fantastic time with what was working with DoorDash to go faster than what was planned. I think it’s just an amazing opportunity to allow us to have a lot of flexibility and accelerate growth.”
