Marc Lore hopes the new cash injection will add some wow factor to his vision for food delivery.
The longtime entrepreneur just raised $700 million to fund the growth strategy of his food delivery startup Wonder. Lore told Yahoo Finance Live on Tuesday that about $100 million is coming from him. The company has now raised $1.5 billion from investors ranging from Amex Ventures to Nestlé and Bain Capital Ventures.
Wonder plans to use the cash to expand from 11 stores to 35 by the end of the year. Roa says he aims to earn 90 spots by the end of 2025.
Wonder's mission is to democratize gourmet food. Lore does this by licensing the menus of popular chefs like Bobby Flay and Michael Symon, creating their iconic dishes in Wonder's kitchen, and delivering them to customers' doorsteps.
“We have proven the business model,” he claims.
Lore said the bulk of the funding will go toward various research and development efforts, including the development of automated kitchens. “We continue to explore what the next generation of kitchens will look like,” he added.
To support business growth, Lore acquired meal delivery company Blue Apron in late 2023 for $103 million.
After founding Wonder in 2018, Lore took back the CEO role in late 2022 and pivoted the business from delivering gourmet meals in food trucks to opening brick-and-mortar stores. Lore believes there could eventually be thousands of these market-like kitchens across the country.
It's no exaggeration to say that Mr. Lore, 52, is a serial entrepreneur with a long and successful history.
He founded Quidsi in 2005. The company became famous under the domain name Diapers.com. Amazon (AMZN) acquired Quidsi in 2010 for approximately $545 million. Lore worked at Amazon until 2013.
He then founded delivery startup Jet.com in 2014, which was acquired by Walmart for $3.3 billion in cash two years later. Mr. Rohr then joined the retail giant to lead its U.S. e-commerce operations and oversee a complete turnaround of its digital business, including the introduction of same-day delivery services and the expansion of Walmart Marketplace.
Walmart shut down Jet.com in March 2020, and Lohr left his position as Walmart's head of U.S. e-commerce in early 2021.
Since leaving Walmart, he has started Wonder and is trying to start a utopian society called Telosa. He is also currently co-owner of the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves with former MLB star Alex Rodriguez.
When asked if Wonder ever worries that things won't work out, Lore sounds like a typical entrepreneur with plenty of wins on the scoreboard.
“We don't spend time thinking about what went wrong in the past or worrying about the future. It's always now,” Lore said.
Brian Sozzi I'm the executive editor of Yahoo Finance. Follow Sozzi on Twitter/X @BrianSozzi And even more linkedin. Have a tip about a deal, merger, activist situation, or more? Email brian.sozzi@yahoofinance.com.
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