iStock.com/Alena Kravchenko
Wonder Group, the ghost kitchen food hall founded by Jet.com founder Marc Lore, has acquired the on-demand delivery platform Grubhub to support its ambition to build the “super app for mealtime.”
Launched in 2018, Wonder stands out by allowing customers to combine dishes from multiple restaurants in a single order for delivery, dine-in, or pickup. It has 28 locations largely in the New York City area and aims to have 90 locations by the end of next year.
Offerings include recipes suitable for large-scale delivery developed by famous chefs including Bobby Flay, Jose Andres, and Marcus Samuelsson, as well as others from award-winning restaurants including Tejas Barbeque and Di Fara Pizza. Last year, Wonder added meal kits to its offerings with the acquisition of Blue Apron. Similar to meal kits, the restaurant meals are “par-cooked,” or partially prepared, at a central kitchen and finished with “lightly trained labor” using only hot water, a rapid-cook oven, or a fryer at one of Wonder’s locations, according to a profile by the New York Times.
The Times reported that “there are as many as 500 items available for order at a given Wonder, across 28 distinct menus.”
The New York Post wrote, “Wonder’s business — which has been valued at close to $5 billion — is based, in part, on the idea that any given city block might not be able to sustain multiple chains, but can support a single location that serves multiple cuisines.”
The addition of Grubhub not only provides Wonder with a new source of revenue but also gives the company access to the platform’s delivery drivers and delivery technology, adding to Wonder’s existing delivery crew. In April, Wonder acquired the NYC-based bike-delivery company Relay.
With more than 375,000 merchants and 200,000 delivery partners across the U.S., Grubhub offers on-demand delivery largely from independent restaurants and national restaurant brands but also convenience and grocery stores. It recently partnered with Office Depot and PetSmart. Per Wonder’s press release, the combination brings “together the convenience, speed and selection of first-party and third-party restaurants, groceries and meal kits in a single app order.”
For $9.99 per month, the Grubhub+ subscription program includes unlimited free delivery on orders of $12 or more from eligible restaurants. Wonder didn’t specify its plans for the core Grubhub delivery business.
Wonder will acquire Grubhub for $650 million, a steep discount from the more than $7 billion current owner Just Eat Takeaway.com paid in 2021 at the height of the pandemic. The decline reflects the pullback in meal delivery and lost market share to DoorDash and Uber Eats. The Grubhub acquisition is set to close in the first quarter of 2025.
Wonder also announced an additional $250 million in funding, bringing its total raised capital to date to $1.5 billion.
Lore, CEO of Wonder, said on his LinkedIn account, “We’re incredibly excited to combine forces with Grubhub, a pioneer in the online food delivery space, partner to 375,000 merchants and with presence in over 4,000 U.S. cities. With this milestone for Wonder, we will continue to offer our community even easier, more convenient and more expansive multi-restaurant ordering with curation and personalization at the forefront.”