Deliveroo raises $385mn in new funding

British online food delivery company Deliveroo has raised $385 million of new funding. This values the company at over $2 billion, making it the fastest growing UK tech company and one of Europe’s biggest tech success stories.

The funding is led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and Fidelity Management & Research Company, investment managers who have previously backed global technology companies including Facebook, AirBnB and Tesla. Existing investors DST Global, General Catalyst, Index Ventures and Accel Partners are also making follow-on investments, increasing their positions in the company.

This new funding will allow Deliveroo to invest heavily in enabling more people to order great local restaurant food, quickly, to their front door. The company has three priority growth areas in which it will focus investment.

First, rapid growth in Deliveroo’s Editions programme of delivery-only kitchens, which allows partner restaurants to expand without any of the traditional upfront costs, whilst increasing food selection for customers and optimising delivery times.

Second, growth of its technology team, who will focus on continuing to make improvements to Deliveroo’s world-leading real-time logistics algorithm and artificial intelligence systems while improving riders’ working experience and continuing to develop Deliveroo’s products for restaurants and consumers.

Third, rapid expansion into new towns, cities and countries. This will allow more people to order great food quickly to their door from their favourite local restaurants.

“I remember how excited I was carrying out our first delivery. I hoped that people would love being able to order great food from their favourite local restaurants straight to their front door. I am proud that just four years on, millions of people use Deliveroo in over 150 cities around the world. This is all thanks to the hard work of our riders, the great restaurants that we work with and our brilliant customers,” says Will Shu, founder and CEO, Deliveroo

“I am extremely pleased that our new investors share this vision and have decided to make such a significant investment in our future. With this funding we will invest further in our delivery-only kitchens Editions, in developing our technology and in taking Deliveroo to more towns and cities. This investment will take us to the next level and allow our riders to deliver ever more great food directly to people’s doors,” he adds.

“Deliveroo has built an impressive service that is providing fast delivery of high quality food in over 150 cities across the world. We believe they have a world-class team, strong technology capabilities and the right business model. We are excited to see this capital put to use to build out their Editions concept and expand their geographic footprint,” adds Henry Ellenbogen, portfolio manager at T. Rowe Price New Horizons Fund.

“Deliveroo is a global innovation leader in technology, logistics and food,” states Tom Stafford, managing partner at DST Global. “We are excited to continue our partnership with Will and the team at Deliveroo as they build the future of food delivery.”

“Deliveroo is already proving extremely popular in Dubai and the UAE and this new funding will allow us to improve our service through ever better technology and more customer choice once we launch Editions here in the UAE. Its great news for restaurants too who will be able to access new customers via Editions, and it means more work for more riders too,” stresses Anis Harb, general manager, Deliveroo GCC.