New investors DST Global Partners and Redpoint Ventures join Series C bringing total fundraising to more than $90 million in three years
United Arab Emirates, April 21, 2021 — Today Deliverect, a Belgian scale-up that connects Talabat, Zomato, Jahez, Deliveroo, Carriage and more delivery companies directly to restaurants by POS system automation, announced that it has raised $65 million in a Series C funding round from DST Global Partners and Redpoint Ventures, as well as existing investors OMERS, Newion and Smartfin. Deliverect’s founders also invested in the round.
Founded in September 2018, Deliverect has a deep commitment to helping the food and hospitality industry thrive and will use the new capital to continue scaling and helping customers to go online even faster than before by providing them with reliable technology to easily manage digital orders, including delivery, take-out, in-house dining apps.
From family owned restaurants to large global chains and FMCG brands all over the world, Deliverect enables all types of restaurants to easily manage and grow their online orders. The platform eliminates the need for restaurant staff to monitor multiple devices and manually re-enter orders into their existing system, therefore dramatically reducing both staff workload and the probability of errors.
Deliverect processed more than 30 million orders in the past year alone, and is now averaging more than one million orders processed per week — an increase of nearly 750% from April 2020. This is estimated to equate to more than $1B in order value and provides customers on average an increase of 25 percent in revenue as well as 80 percent decrease in order failures.
Zhong Xu, Co-Founder and CEO at Deliverect: “The hospitality world is in a historical moment of change and digitalisation, and the delivery sector has become crucial for the survival of this industry. The impact of this funding round goes beyond just Deliverect and our team. It’s about the restaurants who are surviving and thriving despite the challenges of COVID. These funds will fuel our commitment to providing them with personalised technology to help them grow through their online sales and delivery channels. I have been embedded in the restaurant industry from a young age, so I am acutely aware of the often-slim margins and the fundamental need to maintain superior customer service in order to stay afloat. There is a significant need for a company that can help restaurants overcome these challenges, and Deliverect aims to become the global gateway for online food ordering and delivery, helping restaurants around the world to thrive online. This is a new category and we are proud to say we are the leading solution in the market.”
This funding will support a bold play across the entire food tech industry. In order to address the impact of COVID-19, Deliverect has been on a mission to help hospitality businesses rapidly pivot to online delivery and ordering, and now, following the re-opening of many restaurant dine-in services across the globe, Deliverect is looking to help its customers enable further growth and empower control over their business through customer-led product innovation.
Working with cloud and dark kitchens and restaurant chains, Deliverect supports 10,000+ establishments around the world, including brands such as Pret a Manger, Taco Bell, TimeOut Markets, Taqueria, Le Pain Quotidien and Dishoom, as well as many mom-and-pop restaurants. In addition, the company works with Unilever, which through Deliverect is able to integrate with Deliveroo and Uber Eats and deliver Ben & Jerry’s and Magnum ice creams directly to customers.
João Almeida, Director, M&A and Commercial Finance for KFC Western Europe: “Delivery is very important for KFC. Before the pandemic, delivery was already very relevant. We were seeing an increasing number of online delivery orders, and it was – and still is – one of the fastest growing channels we had. Post-COVID, I can tell you that online sales accelerated even further, and with Deliverect, the time that each rider waits for their order at the restaurant has decreased. We’ve also seen a substantial decrease in the number of incidents, reducing both missing and incorrect orders. This partnership has allowed us to focus on serving the customer with the best chicken in the world, while we leave the technical aspects to the experts at Deliverect.”
Since Deliverect’s Series B in April 2020, the scale-up’s team of 50 people, spread across Ghent, London, Madrid, Toronto and New York, has more than quadrupled to 200 strong and expanded into Dubai, Paris, Edinburgh, Mexico City and Amersfoort (Netherlands). This latest round of funding will be used to support further R&D and product development, solidify its position in the US and continue their international expansion.
Elliot Geidt, Managing Director, Redpoint Ventures: “The explosive rise of online food delivery is forcing restaurants to change how they operate. Zhong and the Deliverect team are building the tools and infrastructure to help restaurants thrive in a world where navigating online food delivery is a matter of success or failure. Zhong has a unique empathy for restaurant owners, an unmatched technical understanding of the food delivery tech stack, and a raw ambition and vision that leaves us very excited.”
Tom Stafford, Managing Partner, DST Global Partners: “Restaurants, consumer goods companies and other businesses increasingly want to enable on-demand ordering by their customers. But many do not have the tools or technology to efficiently work with on-demand delivery providers. Deliverect is providing key software and integrations to enable these businesses to integrate on-demand offerings seamlessly. We are excited to partner with the Deliverect team as they continue to roll out their technology globally and further develop their product offering.”