Gorillas, an online food delivery company based in Berlin, has raised €244 million from investors in a funding round led by Coatue Management, DST Global and Tencent Holdings Ltd.
The Series B funding round values Gorillas at more than $1 billion, giving the fast-growing startup coveted 'unicorn' status little more than a year after it was founded.
Users of the Gorillas app can order more than 2,000 food products and get them delivered for a flat-rate fee of €1.80 - a model that the company says seeks to disrupt old-style food retail.
Gorillas directly employs more than 1,000 riders and says it is now present in more than a dozen cities, including Amsterdam, London and Munich.
New Player
The company is less than a year old, having been founded last May by Jörg Kattner in Berlin. It uses a micro-fulfilment model, with a series of dark stores in the cities in which it operates.
“In contrast to established gig economy models, we employ more than a thousand riders directly,” Sümer recently told Tech Crunch. “Therefore, we invest in a strong career development program, rider security and a healthy working environment. Beyond that, all riders will receive a once-off payment”.
Rival delivery firm Deliveroo is in the process of completing an initial public offering in London, which will value the company at around £8.8 billion (€10.25 billion).
Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan are leading the IPO, while Bank of America, Citi, Jefferies and Numis are also part of the syndicate of banks managing the transaction.
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
