Deliveroo raises $275m to continue expansion

Food delivery service Deliveroo has announced a US$275 million Series E investment, with new investors Bridgepoint and General Catalyst joining existing ones including DST Global and Greenoaks Capital.

The UK-founded company, which has raised almost $400m in capital since its 2013 launch, launched in the UAE at the end of 2015.

Since its arrival in the UAE, Deliveroo has added 400 restaurants to its portfolio and employed 300 riders. 

The impact of this latest round of investment sees the launch of a new service called ‘Quick Lunch’.

UAE-based restaurants signed up to this initiative have lunch options that are quick to prepare and, therefore, drive down delivery time from 32 minutes to 20 minutes.

The new funds will also be used, globally, to expand the service in new and existing markets, as well as provide further investment in projects such as RooBox, a remote kitchen initiative that gives restaurants access to delivery-only kitchens in key locations, accelerating geographic expansion.

Since its Series D round in November, Deliveroo has achieved over 400% growth and reached profitability in a number of its established markets, the company said in a statement. It is witnessing on average 25% month-on-month growth.

Deliveroo has launched in 29 new cities in the past nine months, while and added an additional 9,000 new restaurant partners around the world.

Deliveroo co-founder and CEO Will Shu said: “After seeing strong growth in the markets we launched in November, our new focus is to drive further innovation in food delivery.

"In particular, I’m excited about exploring completely new ways to solve the hardest problems restaurants face when offering delivery.

"RooBox is the first illustration of this approach, and innovations like these are at the heart of our mission. We are proud and honoured to have the support of Bridgepoint, DST Global and General Catalyst in this endeavour.”