Amazon leads a $575 million funding round in the UK-based food delivery company Deliveroo, continuing its efforts to diversify into the takeaway market as it takes on a rival such as Uber Eats in a competitive market. While neither company has revealed how much Amazon is giving its former rival, being the biggest investor in the round most likely means the tech giant is infusing the service with hundreds of millions of dollars in fresh funds.
Deliveroo said the new investment would allow it to deliver to more customers by expanding its geographic reach and growing its engineering team based at its London headquarters. Will Shu, the founder and chief executive of Deliveroo, said the investment would result in the creation of more jobs in all of the countries in which it operates.
This new investment will help Deliveroo to grow and to offer customers even more choice, tailored to their tastes, offer restaurants greater opportunities to grow and expand their businesses, and to create more flexible, well-paid work for riders – Will Shu, the founder, and chief executive of Deliveroo
Deliveroo will use the money it raises from the funding round to expand to new areas and gain new customers. It also intends to introduce new products for a more personalized experience and to help partner restaurants reach a new audience.
This isn’t Amazon’s first foray into the food delivery market. It launched its takeaway service, Amazon Restaurants, in the US back in 2015 and expanded it to the UK the following year.
