Deliveroo CEO Visits India Development Centre to Mark Anniversary of Hyderabad Tech Hub

Deliveroo's CEO Will Shu, is making his first-ever visit to the Deliveroo India Development Centre (IDC) in Hyderabad. The visit demonstrates the centre's important role in Deliveroo's global technology organisation and its vision to become the definitive global online food platform.

(Left to Right): Will Shu, CEO and Founder, Deliveroo handing over a memento to K. T. Rama Rao, Minister of Information Technology, Municipal Administration and Urban Development, and Industries and Commerce, Telangana, in the presence of Sashi S, VP of Engineering, Deliveroo

During his visit to India, CEO Will Shu met with various stakeholders, including Mr. K.T. Rama Rao, Minister of Information Technology, Municipal Administration and Urban Development, and Industries and Commerce, and Mr. Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary of the Industries & Commerce (I&C) and Information Technology (IT) Departments of the Government of Telangana, and Mr. Gareth Wynn Owen, British Deputy High Commissioner Hyderabad to discuss IDC’s milestones and achievements over the past year, priorities for 2023 and growth plans.

(Left to Right): Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary of the Industries & Commerce (I&C) and Information Technology (IT) Departments of the Government of Telangana, K. T. Rama Rao, Minister of Information Technology, Municipal Administration and Urban Development, and Industries and Commerce, Telangana, Gareth Wynn Owen, British Deputy High Commissioner Hyderabad, Will Shu, CEO and Founder, Deliveroo, Sashi S, VP of Engineering, Deliveroo, Devesh Mishra, Chief Product and Technology Officer, Deliveroo, and Dan Winn, Chief Technology Officer, Deliveroo

The IDC, launched in March 2022, is Deliveroo's largest tech hub outside the United Kingdom and has since made significant progress on its multi-year plan to build a world-class engineering team in India. The centre currently comprises 140 employees and is expected to exceed 200 by the end of 2023. Deliveroo has also expanded beyond Hyderabad to access leading tech talent across other metros like Bangalore, Gurgaon, and Mumbai, through shared space partner (Cowrks).

The IDC provides multi-disciplinary support to Deliveroo's global technology team in the UK, embedding themselves within UK-based teams in the global Care & Trust, Financial Systems, Consumer, Delivery, Grocery, Platform, Restaurants, and Product Engineering teams. Working together on integrated projects, the IDC tech team works on a wide range of exciting tech solutions, including enhancing the customer experience, improving navigation of the grocery experience, improving promotions targeting and developing Deliveroo’s advertising platform.

Will Shu, CEO, and Founder, Deliveroo said, “I’m excited to see the success of Deliveroo's India Development Centre over the past year, which is a vital part of our global tech org. Technology enables us to continuously improve our consumer value proposition at a hyperlocal level, optimises the end-to-end order journey for all three sides of our marketplace, in real-time, and provides the infrastructure to scale our business efficiently. I look forward to strengthening our presence in India further in 2023 and to building a world-class team that drives our vision of being the definitive food company.”

After completing one year of operations in Hyderabad, the IDC will continue to expand and focus on improving Deliveroo’s proposition for each side of its marketplace, using technology to drive forward company objectives. The Centre will focus on hiring the right talent, hiring and developing those in leadership positions and diversify functions. Academic partnerships is also a priority for IDC in 2023, and the company aims to attract a diverse mix of talents from leading universities across India.

Deliveroo has made an impactful progress with its presence in India and plans to develop innovative products and systems that will deliver superior experiences for its millions of customers, 176,000 restaurants and grocery partners, and around 150,000 riders across 10 markets: Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Qatar, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and the United Kingdom.

About Deliveroo:

Deliveroo is an award-winning delivery service founded in 2013 by William Shu and Greg Orlowski. Deliveroo works with approximately 176,000 best-loved restaurants and grocery partners, as well as around 150,000 riders to provide the best food delivery experience in the world.

Deliveroo is headquartered in London, with offices around the globe. Deliveroo operates across 10 markets, including Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Italy, Ireland, Qatar, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and the United Kingdom.

Amazon Leads $575 Mn Investment in U.K.’s Deliveroo

Amazon set to be largest investor in Deliveroo’s Series G funding round, according to an emailed statement from Deliveroo, reported Bloomberg.

London-based foodtech firm is raising total $575 million with participation from Amazon alongside existing investors T Rowe Price, Fidelity Management and Research Company, and Greenoaks. Deliveroo has raised a total of about $1.53 Bn to date.

The exact size of investment from Amazon's side was not available, but E-Commerce giant is the biggest investor in Deliveroo's latest round of fund raising.

Deliveroo, which is one of Europe's fastest growing tech companies, would use the funds raised for international expansion and improving its service and to grow its delivery-only kitchens business.

Deliveroo founder and chief executive Will Shu said he was looking forward to working with "such a customer-obsessed organisation" like Amazon.

Amazon said it was attracted by Deliveroo's "innovative technology service".

Deliveroo has raised a total of over $1.5 Bn till now.

British Food Delivery Unicorn Startup To Set Shop in India

Just last month, we saw the acquisition of FoodPanda by Indian cab hailing firm Ola, a step to enter into online food delivery market.

While India's Ola and america's Uber instead of just doing cab aggregation, has entered into online food delivery market to heat up market preposition for old player like Zomato here comes the news that UK's biggest online food delivery firm Deliveroo, valued $1.1 billion, is on verge of entering Indian market.

One of the best funded European startups, Deliveroo is in the process of hiring a country head along with setting up a full-fledged team in India, said a report by Times of India citing two people aware of the development.

The report further said, "They are in the midst of getting on board a person who will spearhead the launch in India along with building a team. After securing new funding, expanding into new geographies was on the cards for them."

Founded 2013 by Americans Will Shu and Greg Orlowski. Deliveroo is based in London and operates in 84 cities in the UK alone. It has presence in almost every European countries and also in Australia, but in Asia it operates only in Hong Kong, Singapore and UAE, and now India, probably in few weeks.

In India, Deliveroo will compete with Zomato, Swiggy and Uber's UberEats and Ola's Foodpanda.

In September 2017, Deliveroo announced a $385 million Series F round. An additional $98 million was announced in November, bringing the total round to $480 million. In total, Deliveroo has raised about $954.5 million in six separate rounds of funding.

It is also notable that Zomato is competition to Deliveroo not just in India but in Australia, Italy, Ireland and UAE too. Zomato has its presence in 23 countries including India while Deliveroo is present in just 12 countries. Zomato is however less funded than Deliveroo but in terms of valuation both are more or less same as -- Deliveroo valued $1.1 billion and Zomato valued at $1 billion -- according to data by WSJ & Dow Jones venturesource billion dollar startup list updated on 1 Jan'18.