DoorDash, the US-based food delivery service backed by telecommunications and internet group SoftBank, secured $250m yesterday in a funding round co-led by investment firms Coatue Management and DST Global.
The round included some existing investors according to Axios, and the funding was raised at a $4bn valuation, almost triple the $1.4bn post-money valuation at which the company last closed funding, just five months ago.
DoorDash functions as a last-mile delivery service for local restaurants, and has boosted partnerships with independent eateries by forging commercial partnerships with several large chains.
The company plans to use the funding to fuel growth, and plans to double the 1,000 towns and cities in the US and Canada in which it operates to 2,000 by the end of 2018.
The capital will also support the expansion of DoorDash’s other offerings, such as a grocery delivery service fuelled by a partnership with big-box retailer Walmart, and a subscription service called DashPass that gives customers unlimited deliveries for a flat monthly fee.
Tony Xu, co-founder and chief executive of DoorDash, said: “DoorDash is gaining market share faster than anyone in the space. We are thrilled to partner with premier investors to accelerate our vision to empower local economies by being the last mile logistics layer.”
DoorDash has now raised $972m since it was founded in 2013, including a $535m series D round led by SoftBank and backed by Singaporean state-owned fund GIC, venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and medical research charity Wellcome Trust in March this year.
The company’s earlier investors include accelerator operator Y Combinator and VC firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Pear Ventures, Khosla Ventures, SV Angel and CRV.