Deliveroo, the London-based premium food delivery juggernaut, has raised a massive $275 million in Series E financing to support its rapid growth. The news comes on the heels of a contradictory announcement from Belgium-based Deliveroo rival Take Eat Easy, which is closing shop due to an inability to raise funding for its own expansion plans.
Deliveroo raised $70 million a year ago, followed by a $100 million round in November 2015. The company has secured around $475 million in capital to date.
The Series E financing round was led by European private equity group Bridgepoint, General Catalyst (an investor in the likes of Stripe, Airbnb, Jet.com, Snapchat and Warby Parker) and prior backer DST Global. Another returning investor is Greenoaks Capital.
With a now more than sizeable war chest, Deliveroo co-founder Will Shu told tech.eu that the money will be spent on its ambitious international expansion plans, strategic projects such as the off-site delivery kitchen initiative RooBox, and of course staffing up.
Today, Deliveroo employs more than 800 people, working with over 16,000 restaurant partners and 20,000+ riders in its bid to "provide the best food delivery experience in the world".
Founded in 2013, Deliveroo currently operates in over 84 cities across 12 countries, and says it has achieved more than 400% growth since raising its Series D round late last year, and - crucially - that it has reached profitability in 'a number of established markets'.
Its chief rivals include Delivery Hero, which has raised more than €1.2 billion and owns direct premium food delivery competitor Foodora, and to a certain degree also with the likes of Just Eat and Takeaway.com. For additional insights, check out our recent EU food tech report.
Asked whether the fresh cash will lead Deliveroo to be more active in the ongoing wave of consolidation in the food delivery space, Will Shu said he prefers organic growth over acquisitions, but wouldn't of course rule anything out. Watch this space.
_Image credit_: Deliveroo UK / Instagram
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