Wonder, a food delivery and restaurant concept startup founded by serial entrepreneur Marc Lore in 2018, announced a confidential filing for an initial public offering. The company positions itself as a platform offering curated restaurant selections from across the country through its vertically integrated mobile application, providing both delivery and takeout services.
The company has expanded significantly from its original model of sprinter vans equipped with mobile kitchens to now operate roughly 170 brick-and-mortar locations throughout the U.S. These locations feature menu items from more than two dozen restaurant concepts spanning various cuisines, including brands associated with celebrity chefs. Wonder plans to launch Wonder Create starting Nov. 17, a program enabling influencers, entrepreneurs and brands to establish their own restaurant operations within Wonder locations for a $10 monthly fee, with participants earning a share of order revenue.
Wonder has undertaken substantial acquisition activity, spending at least $1 billion on deals including delivery service Grubhub, meal kit company Blue Apron, and logistics provider Relay, along with various restaurant concepts. The company has raised over $3 billion in venture capital across multiple funding rounds. During its Series D fundraising round earlier this year, the company achieved a pre-money valuation of $9 billion.
Lore indicated that proceeds from the IPO would support additional acquisitions and advance the company’s mission to improve food accessibility. However, as a public company, Wonder will encounter heightened investor scrutiny amid challenging industry conditions, including weak consumer sentiment affecting restaurant sector stocks and broader market volatility that has constrained IPO activity.
Lore has a track record of building and selling major e-commerce ventures, having founded Diapers.com and Jet.com before their sales to Amazon and Walmart respectively.
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