Delivery Hero Aims to Validate Oft-Dashed European IPO Dreams
The on-demand food company’s listing could boost Germany's startup scene
Delivery Hero headquarters in Berlin.
Photographer: John MacDougall/AFP via Getty Images
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As U.S. tech investors cool on food-delivery startups, European meals-on-wheels company Delivery Hero AG is poised to become Germany’s biggest tech IPO in three years.
Despite its name, the company does relatively little delivering. Instead, it offers apps and Web sites in more than 40 countries from Sweden to Singapore that let hungry consumers order meals from their favorite restaurants for home delivery. About 10 percent of orders get dispatched via the company’s own bike riders; the rest are delivered by the restaurants. Delivery Hero charges restaurants commissions that average 14 percent.