London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

The Deliveroo killers: Five start-ups vying to dominate onlline food delivery

The Deliveroo killers: Five start-ups vying to dominate onlline food delivery

Getir has become the latest in a raft of fast-growing grocery delivery operators to raise bumper cash injections to fuel ambitious growth plans.

The Turkey-based company, which said it can deliver to customers in as little as 10 minutes and launched in the UK in January, secured almost £400 million in investment to take its valuation to about £5.3 billion.

German rival Flink also revealed it raised £170 million only six months after launching as it seeks to grow quickly across Europe.

Investors have been keen to pump money into the sector following a rapid surge in delivery demand amid the coronavirus pandemic.

However, this new wave of start-ups faces pressure from established players in the takeaway market – such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats – which have grown with retail partnerships.

Meanwhile, some supermarkets have tried to cut out the middle man with their own propositions.

Here we look at the key payers in the fast-growing sector:

Key start-ups in the UK


Investors clearly believe there is potential for a new type of grocery retailer for customers, with more than 800 million dollars (£566 million) in funding for last-mile start-ups announced on Friday alone.

This comes amid a flurry of other blockbuster funding rounds, including for Gorillas, one of the fastest-growing firms in the market.

Gorillas, which is based in Berlin, was valued at more than 1 billion dollars (£707 million) in March after a major funding round but is already understood to be targeting a 6 billion dollar (£4.2 billion) valuation as it looks to secure a 1 billion dollar (£707 million) cash boost.

Alongside Getir, Gorillas launched in the UK earlier this year with a major marketing push in London.

Meanwhile, a number of UK-based start-ups have also sprung up in the sector.

Weezy – which said it can deliver groceries within 15 minutes – raised £15 million in January in a round led by New York-based venture capital fund Left Lane.

In January, the company said it would use the cash to open more fulfilment centres in London and was targeting some 40 more UK sites this year.

Elsewhere, fellow UK firm Fancy – which operates in Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester and Newcastle – was snapped up by the US’s GoPuff.

Getir has said it will also use its latest funding boost – which has valued it more highly than Deliveroo – to expand into more UK cities.

Established delivery firms


Since the onset of the pandemic, takeaway specialists Deliveroo and Uber Eats have rapidly expanded their grocery delivery operations to cope with soaring demand for everyday staples.

The firms have linked up with supermarket chains and local convenience stores to offer rapid delivery services with their couriers.

Sainsbury’s has expanded its trials with both operators, expanding Deliveroo services to 100 of its stores and its Uber Eats scheme to 78 stores.

Supermarkets typically pick items from stores to be delivered by couriers, unlike the independent start-ups, which use their own fulfilment centres and product selections.

Morrisons, Aldi, Waitrose and the Co-op have also expanded offers through Deliveroo to reach customers with rapid delivery times.

Meanwhile, Asda is another major supermarket using rapid delivery services, having linked up with Uber Eats last June.

Both courier firms also work extensively with convenience stores, including chains such as McColls, and independent retailers.

Supermarkets


The biggest grocers have utilised the strong networks of the likes of Deliveroo and Uber Eats but some have also looked to develop their own propositions.

Last month, Tesco, which had previously not offered any rapid delivery service, launched its own Whoosh trial in Wolverhampton.

It said the one-hour service will be trialled at one store with the potential for expansion.

Sainsbury’s also operates its own service, called Chop Chop, which it expanded to 50 stores in 20 cities last year.

Meanwhile, last month, Waitrose announced plans to shut down its own Rapid delivery service, which it launched in 2018, saying it would instead focus on expanding its partnership with Deliveroo.

Morrisons offers same-day rapid deliveries as part of its tie-up with Amazon, which also offers customers its own Amazon Fresh products.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×