Delivery Hero, a Germany-based company that now boasts a worldwide network of online food ordering sites with over 55,000 restaurants connected to its service, has raised $88m in a series E round led by private equity firm Insight Ventures. Existing backers also participated. The latest round brings the company’s total funding to date to an estimated $200m.
The food delivery service enables its visitors to easily order food and conveniently pay directly online. Orders placed through the service are then forwarded to participating restaurants that in turn fulfil these orders. The company operates in Germany, UK, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Austria, Denmark, Russia, Australia, Switzerland, South Korea, China, Mexico and India. The company has more than 700 employees around the world with 300 staff working from its Berlin headquarters. Delivery Hero investors include Insight Venture Partners, Kite Ventures, Team Europe, ruNet, Tengelmann Ventures, Holtzbrinck Ventures, Point Nine Capital and Phenomen Ventures.
The company will primarily use the funds to fuel growth in its existing markets and expanding its position. The new round of capital represents the largest investment seen by the sector to date and brings the overall investment in Delivery Hero to more than $200m. Delivery Hero’s restaurant partners generate more than $500m in annual sales via orders from more than 6 million consumers who use the company’s online service or mobile applications. The company grew revenue with more than 100% in 2013 and became profitable by the end of the year.
Founded as Lieferheld.de in October 2010 by the start-up incubator Team Europe and Holtzbrinck Ventures it raised EUR1m in seed capital. By 2011, it raised EUR 15m in a series A/B round led by the Moscow based ru-Net and Kite Ventures with Team Europe and Point Nine Capital also investing. By August 2012, when the company was just 21 months old, the company had raised €80m ($98.4m), making it one of the best financed European start-ups in recent years. The series C round in 2012 was worth €40m ($49m), which was financed by Kite Ventures, Kreos Capital and other existing investors. In July 2013, the company raised $30m in a series D financing led by Phenomen Ventures and supported by existing investors.