Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Deliveroo raises $385M in new funding

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 147 posts

Re: Deliveroo raises $385M in new funding

#11

Post by Zenst »

georgespencer wrote: post #4
juskrey wrote: post #2

Like Pets.com never happened

Very different. Pets.com in Y1: revenue $600k USD, advertising spend $11.5m. Deliveroo generates significant revenue and is a business/brand that consumers are passionate about. The bet investors are making is that their gross margin can increase quickly. Expect they're doing close to £300m of revenue now, so a 6.5x rev>valuation multiple is punchy but fair.

£128.56m in sales last year, and a loss of £129m. So very much curious how they managed such a valuation without over-hype.

Re: Deliveroo raises $385M in new funding

#13

Post by dnh44 »

mattmanser wrote: post #7
marenkay wrote: post #5

Another unicorn that can only exist because it uses fake self-employment to turn their workforce into a cheaper one. Just like Uber and so many others this only works because for some reason turning paid work into something that is not even self-sustaining suddenly is accepted. Does nobody have ethical issues with seeing value in devaluing people?

While I agree this self-employed farce has to stop, the service itself is good. Previously takeaways were all the more greasy options, the deliveroo options are nicer food and it's aimed at a different market segment. It allows venues access to a market that was previously denied to them because they couldn't justify running their own delivery service full-time. They charge £2.50 per delivery. If they were paying cou…

Deliveroo also take 30% of the food sale so I always assumed the £2.50 went to the rider, which seems like decent amount.

Re: Deliveroo raises $385M in new funding

#15

Post by CPLX »

marenkay wrote: post #5

Another unicorn that can only exist because it uses fake self-employment to turn their workforce into a cheaper one. Just like Uber and so many others this only works because for some reason turning paid work into something that is not even self-sustaining suddenly is accepted. Does nobody have ethical issues with seeing value in devaluing people?

While I strongly agree with your overall sentiment it's worth noting that this is not a new startup-developed characteristic. The people driving FedEx delivery trucks to your office are independent contractors too.

Re: Deliveroo raises $385M in new funding

#16

Post by mattmanser »

I find it funny they're claiming some sort of AI system will help them make better margins.

In my city, Nottingham. all the deliveroo people gather in Trinity Square waiting for jobs. There's obviously no special AI needed.

I do think though that it raises the issue that they should be paying for their own business premises and stop using our public spaces as their company waiting spots.

Re: Deliveroo raises $385M in new funding

#17

Post by Zenst »

orf wrote: post #10

For those wondering about these numbers, Deliveroo has a great concept, solid execution and huge brand recognition. Just-eat (worth 4.6B) connects people to shitty takeaways and has a terrible website. Deliveroo connects people to restaurants and provides the delivery service themselves, through bikers (here in London). They have taken this and spread throughout Europe. They are going to (and are) completely canablis…

Would it be fair to say that the valuation is based on the back of Just-eats valuation?

Re: Deliveroo raises $385M in new funding

#18

Post by BigJono »

NamTaf wrote: post #9
mbrookes wrote: post #6

What have Deliveroo done differently to be more successful than the food delivery startups that came before?

They beat everyone else, including UberEats, to the AU market. I think them and Foodora were the first two, but they won and UberEats just relied on their brand to muscle in. Both share the market pretty evenly ehre, from what I can tell. I wonder if they did this for many 'secondary' markets to try to beat the big players or if AU is just a weird case.

Only the inner suburb markets though. Once you're >10km out of the city center it's all Menulog and UberEats, with a smattering of people using EatNow.

Re: Deliveroo raises $385M in new funding

#19

Post by mattmanser »

dnh44 wrote: post #13
mattmanser wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree this self-employed farce has to stop, the service itself is good. Previously takeaways were all the more greasy options, the deliveroo options are nicer food and it's aimed at a different market segment. It allows venues access to a market that was previously denied to them because they couldn't justify running their own delivery service full-time. They charge £2.50 per delivery. If they were paying cou…

Deliveroo also take 30% of the food sale so I always assumed the £2.50 went to the rider, which seems like decent amount.

Yeah, I forgot to say that. 30% is very similar to just eat's take too. Seeing as the minimum order is invariably £10, the minimum take for deliveroo is £5 per order, but I'm guessing it's usually more like £7-£10.

They'll definitely still be able to make money after a change in status.

Re: Deliveroo raises $385M in new funding

#20

Post by amyboyd »

orf wrote: post #10

For those wondering about these numbers, Deliveroo has a great concept, solid execution and huge brand recognition. Just-eat (worth 4.6B) connects people to shitty takeaways and has a terrible website. Deliveroo connects people to restaurants and provides the delivery service themselves, through bikers (here in London). They have taken this and spread throughout Europe. They are going to (and are) completely canablis…

What makes you think Just-Eat ran out of steam "years ago"?

Stock price is higher than ever: http://www.londonstockexchange.com/exchange/prices-and-marke...

They are reporting good growth: http://www.cityam.com/256734/just-eat-reported-order-growth-...

I see lots of Deliveroo bikes around where I live in the centre of London, but they are basically non-existant when I go to other towns and cities.

Also, Deliveroo started up-scale -- they can't go down to selling cheap Chinese takeaway food, because it will hurt their image.

Just-Eat started at the low-end and are now moving up-scale without hurting their image. And even then, plenty of people prefer low-end Chinese food (I sure do).

Post reply on HN