DoorDash, the US-based food delivery service that counts internet and telecommunications group SoftBank as an investor, is near to raising funding at a valuation above $15bn, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.
The round will involve the company securing hundreds of millions of dollars and is set to include investment and financial services group Fidelity and investment manager T.Rowe Price, according to people familiar with the matter. The touted valuation will be pre-money.
DoorDash’s online platform enables users in a range of American cities to choose food from local restaurants for home delivery and has also expanded into grocery delivery. It confidentially filed to go public in February this year.
However, the company’s business practices have also been the subject of increased scrutiny and it is facing lawsuits over a tipping policy that involved it pocketing tips intended for its delivery staff, and a pricing policy that can lead to restaurants losing money on every order.
T. Rowe Price invested $100m in DoorDash in November 2019 at a $13bn valuation to close its series G round at $700 and increase its total funding to $2.1bn since it was founded in 2013.
Hedge fund manager Darsana Capital Partners had led the round’s $600m first close in May the same year, investing alongside Vision Fund, Sands Capital, Coatue Management, Dragoneer, DST Global, Sequoia Capital and Temasek.
Earlier DoorDash investors include Kleiner Perkins, Khosla Ventures, Pear Ventures, SV Angel and CRV but SoftBank first invested through a $535m series D round in early 2018 also backed by GIC, Sequoia Capital and Wellcome Trust that valued it at $1.4bn.
The company’s valuation increased to $4bn in a $250m round co-led by Coatue Management and DST Global later the same year that included unnamed existing investors.
Temasek and Dragoneer co-led DoorDash’s $400m series F round in February 2019 which included Vision Fund, Coatue Management, Sequoia Capital, DST Global, GIC and Y Combinator.
