Gopuff

Last updated

GoBrands, Inc.
Company type Private
Industry Retail
Founded2013;11 years ago (2013)
Founders
  • Yakir Gola
  • Rafael Ilishayev
Headquarters Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Services Online platform for convenience delivery
Revenue
  • Increase2.svgUS$2 billion (2021)
[1]
Number of employees
c.15,000 [2]
Website gopuff.com

Gopuff, legally GoBrands, Inc., is an American consumer goods and food delivery company headquartered in Philadelphia. [3] [4] [5] The company operates in more than 650 US cities through approximately 500 microfulfillment centers as of October 2021. [6] [3] [7] [8] It also operates in the United Kingdom, following a takeover of Newcastle upon Tyne-based Fancy. [9] [10] As of July 2021, the company was valued at $15 billion. [7] [8] [11] [12]

Contents

History

Gopuff is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was founded in 2013 by two Drexel University students: Yakir Gola and Rafael Ilishayev. Gopuff was originally an on-demand hookah delivery service but expanded to delivering food and goods typically sold in convenience stores. [13] The company began offering delivery services in Philadelphia before moving into other cities, including Seattle, Boston, Phoenix, and Atlanta. [14] [15]

In 2016, Gopuff raised $8.25 million in A round funding. [16] In 2019, the company reportedly raised $750 million in funding from SoftBank, with a commitment for up to $250 million more. [17] [18] Also in 2019, Gopuff opened a new headquarters in the Finnigan's Wake building in Northern Liberties. [19] [20]

Gola and Ilishayev were included in a 2017 Forbes 30 Under 30 list for retail and ecommerce [21] and later in the year, were together named Target Magazine's target marketer of the year. [22] While founding Gopuff, Gola and Ilishayev bonded over their similar ancestries and family backgrounds, [4] and later became supporters of Drexel's Jewish community, providing funding for Drexel Chabad to purchase a new building in 2020. [23] [24]

In October 2020, the company announced that it had raised $380 million in a funding round led by Accel and D1 Capital Partners, bringing the company's total value to $3.9 billion. [11] In November, Gopuff agreed to purchase BevMo! for $350 million. [25] The alcoholic beverage chain has 161 stores in California, Washington and Arizona. [26] [27]

In March 2021, Gopuff announced that it had raised $1.15 billion in funding from investors including D1 Capital Partners, Fidelity Management and Research Company , and Luxor Capital. [7] [8] That month, it was listed on CNBC's Disruptor 50 list. [28]

In April 2021, Gopuff added the first independent board member, Betsy Atkins, to its board. [29]

In May 2021, Gopuff acquired Fancy, a UK-based food delivery service. [9] Also in May, Gopuff and Uber Eats announced a partnership to sell products from Gopuff through the Uber Eats app. [30] [31]

In June 2021, Gopuff acquired Liquor Barn, an alcoholic beverage chain, and announced the acquisition of RideOS for $115 million. [32] [33] [34] [35]

In February 2022, Gopuff signed a partnership deal with McLaren for the 2022 Formula One season. [36]

In July 2022, Gopuff announced closure of 76 of its U.S. warehouses and layoffs impacting about 1,500 employees. The company still intends to expand services at other high-performing locations. [2] In October 2022, the company conducted more layoffs, firing some 250 employees. [37]

Services and operation

Gopuff primarily delivers goods typically found in convenience stores such as snacks, drinks, household items, toiletries as well as pet and baby products like diapers. [38] Beer, wine, and spirits are available for delivery in some markets. [39]

In December 2015, Gopuff launched a beer delivery service called goBeer. [40] In May 2016, they launched an alcohol delivery service called goBooze. [41] [42] [43] These services are organized under the umbrella of goBrands Inc.

The company owns warehouses that stock many of the products it delivers, including electronics, food, medications, and pet supplies. [44]

A fall in demand following the sector’s boom during the Covid-19 lockdowns affected Gopuff as well. In March 2023, Uber couriers were handling at least 4 per cent of all Gopuff orders in the US, to deal with a gap in the latter's own driver workforce. The two companies were also reported to be in talks for Gopuff orders to be placed through the Uber Eats app. [45]

Privacy issues

In 2018, researchers from Northeastern University found that the Gopuff mobile app recorded user interactions that involved personal information, and transmitted the resulting video to a website affiliated with analytics company Appsee. [46] Appsee criticized Gopuff for violating its terms of service. [46] Gopuff stated that it would remove Appsee code from future versions of its iOS and Android apps, and amend its privacy policy to disclose possible data transfer to the app. [46]

Controversies

In March 2023, Gopuff was fined $6.2 million by Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell for misclassification of employees as independent contractors and other state labor law violations. [47] [48]

In May 2023, Gopuff lost its license to deliver alcohol in Massachusetts after it delivered alcohol to 19 underage people near Boston College in 2021. [49]

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