March 24, 2021
Online shopping and food delivery spiked during the pandemic as many people stayed home to stop the spread of COVID-19.
With the surge in business, on-demand delivery app goPuff says it has raised $1.5 billion in new funding that the company will use to expand to more cities, feature more product categories and invest in new technology.
This latest round of funding comes from new and existing investors, and it has more than doubled the company's valuation to $8.9 billion in just five months. This makes goPuff one of very few billion-dollar, privately held companies in Philadelphia, Technical.ly Philly reported, which also called the investment deal one of the biggest ever for a locally-based business.
"We are grateful for the confidence of our longtime returning partners as well as the new, top-tier institutions joining this round who understand our differentiation in the market," Rafael Ilishayev, co-founder and co-CEO of goPuff, said. "We look forward to their support as we accelerate our growth plans and continue to define and transform the instant needs space."
GoPuff launched in Philadelphia in 2013 and now operates in 41 states and hundreds of cities. The company said the new funding will "advance and accelerate" its expansion efforts in the U.S. and internationally. New micro-fulfillment centers have opened in Nashville, Tennessee; Eugene, Oregon; White plains, New York; and Pittsburgh, a spokesperson for goPuff said.
The company said it will feature more products local to each of the markets. In Philadelphia, goPuff sells La Colombe, Simply Good Jars, Federal Donuts and Lesser Evil products. It's also looking into new product categories, similar to the "better for you," "beauty" and "curated mystery boxes" that it recently began selling.
GoPuff sells everything from cleaning supplies and pet food to drinks and snacks. It acquired California-based alcohol retailer BevMo! in November and started selling at-home COVID-19 tests in December. It raised $380 million to add new products to its app in October and received a $750 million investment from SoftBank's $100 billion Vision Fund, according to Technical.ly Philly.
Investors include D1 Capital Partners, Fidelity Management and Research Company, Baillie Gifford, Eldridge, Reinvent Capital, Luxor Capital and SoftBank Vision Fund 1.
"goPuff is truly in a league of its own,” Daniel Sundheim, Founder & Chief Investment Officer at D1 Capital Partners, said. “The company's potential is tremendous, and we look forward to the unique opportunities that lie ahead.”
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