Startup Deliv raises $40 million in home-delivery arms race
Investment is the latest in rash of funding for crowdsourced courier firms
Deliv Inc., a startup that provides same-day deliveries for Walmart Inc. and other retailers, has raised $40 million (U.S.) in funding that values the company at less than $500 million, according to a person familiar with the matter. As shopper demand for speedy delivery of everything from food to designer shoes grows, a range of investors, including retailers, tech firms and car manufacturers are rushing to spend in the space.
Rival Instacart Inc. raised $600 million earlier this month.
New investors in the latest Deliv funding include Alphabet Inc.’s Google and rental-car firm Enterprise Holdings, Deliv said. Previously Deliv raised over $40 million from investors including mall owner GGP Inc. and United Parcel Service Inc. at a $71.6 million valuation, according to PitchBook Data Inc. The latest round values Deliv at several hundred million dollars, the person said.
Deliv, based in Menlo Park, Calif., has carved out a niche in the competitive landscape by not emphasizing its brand with shoppers, instead working behind the scenes to provide logistics software along with a crowdsourced fleet of drivers to make deliveries.
“We simply plug into them and power delivery for them,” allowing the retailer to keep a direct connection to shoppers, said Deliv founder and CEO Daphne Carmeli. Her company operates in 1,400 cities and isn’t profitable.
The competition is especially heated in food delivery, an area where restaurants and grocers feel they are still on even ground with Amazon.com Inc. when it comes to fast delivery. Target Corp. last year bought Shipt Inc., a grocery delivery startup similar to Instacart, for $550 million.
Walmart, the country’s largest grocer, plans to offer same-day grocery delivery in 100 metro areas by the end of the year, using crowdsourced delivery companies including Deliv, Postmates and DoorDash.
Walmart is also testing its own crowdsourced system called Spark Delivery, in part because delivery companies aren’t yet available to service the thousands of stores Walmart has in small towns and rural areas. “We’re exploring a number of different options,” said a Walmart spokeswoman.