Postmates is a popular on-demand food delivery service that facilitates restaurant and consumer food deliveries. The company has been pursuing autonomous robotic delivery ambitions while competing in a crowded food-delivery market. Postmates recently raised $225 million at a $2.4 billion valuation, bringing its total funding to nearly $1 billion. It has privately filed for an IPO with the SEC and tapped JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America to lead the offering. The article notes the motives for the last-minute financing were unclear but that the capital ensures Postmates has runway to accelerate growth ahead of the public listing. Postmates was founded in 2011 and is backed by investors including Spark Capital, Founders Fund, Uncork Capital, Slow Ventures, Tiger Global, and BlackRock. Postmates operates an on-demand food delivery marketplace that completes roughly 5 million deliveries per month and serves customers in more than 550 cities. The company recently expanded into another 100 markets, reaching an additional 50 million potential customers. Postmates has begun preparing for an initial public offering and has tapped JPMorgan to advise on a possible float. Reportedly the company expected to record $400 million in 2018 revenue on food sales of $1.2 billion, though Postmates has not confirmed those figures. The business has raised significant venture capital to date—totaling $681 million—and is led by co-founder and CEO Bastian Lehmann. Competition in the market includes larger entrants such as Uber Eats and heavily funded rivals like DoorDash. Postmates operates an on-demand delivery network serving retail and restaurants, recently expanding into more than 100 new cities and now available in 400+ U.S. cities as well as Mexico City. The company says it completes “millions” of deliveries every month and is profitable in 90% of its markets. Over the past four years Postmates reports gross margins have improved dramatically to nearly 50%. It has announced partnerships with companies including Instacart and Walmart. Management says the new investment will accelerate its ability to pair technology with the vitality of neighborhoods and support continued retail distribution growth. Postmates operates an on-demand delivery platform that earns revenue from delivery fees, merchant placements, and subscriptions like Postmates Plus Unlimited. A TechCrunch-obtained pitch deck reportedly showed accelerating revenue and healthy gross margins, driven in part by about 6,000 merchants paying for better placement and participation in paid programs. The company has integrated its API with large partners such as Apple and Starbucks, creating additional monetization channels. Postmates is completing over 1.5 million deliveries per month and company leadership said it could hit profitability as soon as next year if it chooses to do so. The new capital is intended primarily to improve engineering and expand into new markets, with particular focus on growing the Unlimited subscription product to compete with services like Amazon Prime. Management also said an IPO is an option they have in mind, likely at least two years out. Postmates operates an urban logistics and on-demand delivery platform that connects customers with local couriers who purchase and deliver goods from any restaurant or store in a city. Led by co-founder and CEO Bastian Lehmann, the company operates across 28 markets and recently surpassed 2.5 million deliveries. It partners with companies such as Apple, Starbucks and Chipotle. The company intends to use new funding to accelerate geographic expansion, grow key teams and explore categories beyond food. Postmates recently secured $80M in funding to support those plans, and a Tiger Global partner joined its board.

Total raised

$903M

Funding rounds

10

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Sep 2019