Postmates

founders: bastian lehmann (ceo), sean plaice, sam street $278 million Equity raised: $300 million Estimated 2017 revenue: Lead investors: founders fund, spark capital

What it does: provides a delivery service for restaurants and other businesses. since launching in san francisco in 2011, postmates has spread to 250 cities across the u.s. customers order food and other goods through a website or app. postmates charges businesses a 15% to 25% commission on each sale, plus a $4 or $6 delivery fee to customers. in addition to its 550 employees, the company relies on a courier workforce of more than 100,000 independent contractors. to beat rival delivery startups like grubhub and Doordash, it has launched new services like alcohol delivery in six states, including new York and california. also in the works: a fleet of robots to replace human couriers in some markets. german-born ceo lehmann, 39, expects the company to become profitable in 2018. he says the company may go public next year.