Deliveroo hires Amazon supply chain boss to head up tech

DELIVEROO has poached a leading technology executive from its own investor, Amazon, as its shares rose closer to their float price.

The food delivery company, which went public earlier this year and endured a first day rout as shares fell by a quarter, has hired Devesh Mishra as its chief product and technology officer.

Mr Mishra spent 16 years at Amazon, where he was vice-president of global supply chains, in charge of operations spanning 185 markets.

He is due to relocate from Seattle to London and will report to Will Shu, the founder.

Mr Shu said: “Devesh is a world-class tech talent and we are delighted that he is joining the team.”

Deliveroo is creating 400 new roles for software engineers and product managers to improve productivity for riders and efficiency for the restaurants and grocery stores on its platform.

Shares in Deliveroo surged as much as 12pc yesterday before closing up 6.9pc at 363p. The company is now worth £6.6bn – still more than £1bn below its float value.

The rise follows a 5pc jump on Monday after it emerged that German food delivery company Delivery Hero had taken a 5pc stake in the company.

The Berlin-based company said it had bought shares in Deliveroo after the stock tanked following the disastrous float.

Niklas Oestberg, Delivery Hero’s chief executive, said he believed Deliveroo’s shares were “undervalued”.

The stock deal sparked speculation that Deliveroo’s lagging share price could leave it open to being snapped up by a bigger rival.

However, a dual class of shares owned by Mr Shu gives him 57.5pc voting control despite holding just a 6.4pc stake and the right to block any takeover approach.

Food delivery companies have been boosted by the pandemic as takeaway orders surge and restaurants ramp up their options for eating out.

With markets unlocking and footfall returning to restaurants, analysts are watching to see if pandemic habits in takeaway delivery will stick.

After a period of full throttle growth, investors in the food delivery sector believe further consolidation of the fiercely competitive sector could be on the cards.

Earlier this year FTSE 100 firm Just Eat Takeaway completed a $7.3bn (£5.3bn) takeover of Grubhub, and Uber has bought US rival Postmates.

Last week, it was reported that $60bn US food delivery company Doordash was considering taking a stake in German food delivery player Grubhub.

Delivery Hero is backed by Prosus, a spin-off of South Africa’s Naspers, which has expressed an interest in snapping up more delivery companies.

Deliveroo is due to report its half-year results today.