Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) is set to invest in the popular UK food delivery app, Deliveroo. News emerged of the deal just days after rival Uber’s listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
Revealed in an exclusive Sky News report, Amazon is leading a new £450 million fundraising round in Deliveroo.
“This new investment will help Deliveroo to grow and to offer customers even more choice, tailored to their personal tastes, offer restaurants greater opportunities to grow and expand their businesses, and to create more flexible, well-paid work for riders,” Will Shu, founder and CEO of Deliveroo, commented.
“Amazon has been an inspiration to me personally and to the company, and we look forward to working with such a customer-obsessed organisation,” the founder and CEO continued.
“This is great news for the tech and restaurant sectors, and it will help to create jobs in all of the countries in which we operate.”
In addition to Amazon’s funding, Deliveroo’s existing investors T. Rowe Price, Fidelity Management and Research Co, and Greenoaks also contributed funds.
The British online food delivery company was founded in 2013 and is based in London. It currently operates in two 200 cities in countries such as Britain, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain and Ireland – to name a few.
Its deal with Amazon, the multinational technology company based in Seattle, Washington, is just days after Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER) made it stock market debut, selling shares on the New York Stock Exchange. Uber Eats rivals Deliveroo in the food delivery market.
In the lead up to its stock market debut, doubts emerged over whether Uber’s IPO would ever be profitable when the ride-hailing firm released details of its IPO plans. Moreover, Uber drivers across the UK were prepared to strike against pay and work conditions.
Elsewhere for Amazon, it announced earlier this week that it was set to partner with another British company, high street retailer Next (LON:NXT), to launch a click and collect service which will allow Amazon parcels to be collected in store.
At 19:59 GMT -4 Thursday, shares in Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) were trading at +1.95%.
Shares in Uber Technologies Inc (NYSE:UBER) were last trading at +4.13%.
