Marc Lore’s food delivery startup Wonder raises $350M at a $3.5B valuation – TechCrunch

New York-based Wonder, a mobile restaurant delivery service led by Marc Lore, has raised $350 million in Series B funding. The company is now worth about $3.5 billion, according to The Wall Street Journal. The funding round was led by Bain Capital Ventures and included participation from Accel, Alpine Group, Amex Ventures, Forerunner, General Catalyst, GV, NEA, YieldStreet and others. This latest funding round brings Wonder’s total amount raised in debt and equity to $900 million.

The startup partners with popular chefs to create exclusive menus and bring their recipes to mobile restaurants. Users can then order dishes from these mobile restaurants to their doorsteps. According to Wonder’s website, your order is cooked and plated “just steps away from your door, then served as soon as it’s ready.”

In a blog post about the raise, Lore said Wonder is now available in 22 towns in New Jersey and services over 130,000 households. Since the platform’s launch six months ago, Wonder has created 19 mobile restaurants. The company has collaborated with several famous chefs, including Bobby Flay, Nancy Silverton, Michael Symon and more.

Lore says the new funding will be used to continue to expand within the tri-state area in New Jersey, with Bergen County being next on the list. Wonder is also going to launch 11 more restaurants, which will bring the company’s total number to 30.

“Our innovative techniques, technology, world-class culinary partnerships, and talent opens up so much potential for exciting, new possibilities,” Lore said in the blog post. “Wonder has a real opportunity to not only completely change how people eat, but also to create a better future with access to the world’s best food in a convenient, affordable and sustainable way.”

The Wall Street Journal reports that although Wonder currently has a limited market reach, the company plans to expand into new areas across the United States by 2035. Wonder also aims to add other prepared-food businesses to its network, as it plans to add ready-to-heat meals and meal-preparation kits to its delivery service.

Lore isn’t new to the delivery market, as he founded e-commerce shopping site Jet.com and later sold it to Walmart for $3 billion in cash in 2016. After the acquisition, Lore led Walmart’s U.S. e-commerce operations until January 2021.