Earlier this year, DoorDash received a $535 million investment from SoftBank, Sequoia Capital and Singapore-based sovereign wealth fund GIC, bringing the food delivery company a $1.4 billion valuation. DoorDash plans to use the funding to expand into additional cities this year.
As part of the deal, representatives from the investors joined DoorDash’s board, such as Jeffrey Housenbold of SoftBank and Jeremy Kranz of GIC.
“DoorDash’s technology advantages, exceptional management team and relentless merchant focus are reflected in their stunning growth and impressive unit economics,” Housenbold said. “Food delivery is just the first chapter. Tony [Xu] and [the] team have a bold vision to create the world’s best logistics company, and we’re thrilled to partner with them to help accelerate their progress.”
The funding will enable DoorDash to boost its market share, said DoorDash CEO Tony Xu at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colorado, according to Fortune. The company currently serves around 1,200 cities in Canada and the United States, and plans to add as many as 600 cities in 2018. He added, “We have long ways ahead in terms of serving the millions of restaurants out there.”
The funding will also help DoorDash fend off its rivals, which include Grubhub (which bought Yelp’s Eat24), Postmates, Uber Eats, Square-owned Caviar and Amazon.
In addition, DoorDash is partnering up with Walmart to give businesses an option over Instacart. The DoorDash alternative will allow the business to maintain its direct, face-to-face relationship with the consumer, while serving as the back-end network that firms can tap to get their goods delivered. The pilot will roll out in Atlanta, and DoorDash hopes to become the omnichannel key for physical retailers that want to add a delivery button to their list of services offered. Lots of firms want delivery, but not every firm has the desire or resource-base to build its own network.