DoorDash, a US-based food delivery service backed by telecommunications and internet group SoftBank, is looking to raise about $500m in funding, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.
The company is seeking investment at a valuation greater than $6bn that could come near to $7bn, a person familiar with the situation told the WSJ. It last raised money in a $250m round in August 2018 that valued it at roughly $4bn according to Axios.
Founded in 2013, DoorDash runs an online platform that enables users to order food from local restaurants, and has fuelled growth through strategic agreements with partners such as big box retailer Walmart and online reviews platform TripAdvisor.
The company’s latest partnership was signed last month with Cruise Automation, an autonomous driving subsidiary of carmaker General Motors that also counts SoftBank as a major investor, and will facilitate the trialling of food delivery through driverless cars.
Investment adviser Coatue Management and investment firm DST Global co-led the August round, participating alongside undisclosed existing backers, increasing the company’s funding to $972m altogether.
SoftBank had led DoorDash’s $535m series D round in April 2018, investing together with venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, foundation Wellcome Trust and the Singaporean government-owned GIC at a reported $1.4bn valuation.
Sequoia and Wellcome Trust were both existing investors, and DoorDash’s earlier backers also include VC firms Khosla Ventures, CRV, Pear Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, startup accelerator Y Combinator and private investors including Ted Zagat.
