Deliveroo history and timeline: How Will Shu built the $2 billion firm

2004: Shu moves to Morgan Stanley’s offices in Canary Wharf, London, where his takeout budget evaporates. He spends miserable evenings buying food from the local supermarket chain, Tesco. “It just became really depressing,” he said, according to Startups.co.uk.

REUTERS/Toby Melville

You can read Shu’s account of Deliveroo’s early days here.

Late 2006: Shu is working at a hedge fund and his hours are more reasonable. Takeaway marketplaces like Just Eat are taking off, but Shu finds them lacking. “It was not a great customer experience,” he said.

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June 2010: Shu goes back to the US and to school, taking an MBA at Wharton. “It was a way for me to drink for two years and hang out… But it did give me time to think,” he said.

The Wharton School/Facebook

August 2012: Apple is about to release the iPhone 5 and the App Store has been going for four years. Rival smartphones are taking off. It’s time to return to the concept of a marketplace that could deliver any food you want, wherever you want.

The iPhone 4 and iPhone 5.Reuters/Yves Herman

February 2013: Shu and Orlowski team up again to build Deliveroo from Shu’s Chelsea flat. They know this will involve a big fleet of couriers to drop off the food, and that they would need to communicate through an app. But they struggle to win support.

February 2013: According to Shu, sceptics told him that English people didn’t want good food delivered.

Mid-2013: Will Shu works as Deliveroo’s first “rider,” picking up food from restaurants and delivering it to customers just to see how the experience works. His friends reportedly prank him by ordering food, just to see the former analyst working as a delivery boy.

Will Shu in a Deliveroo rider’s distinctive, reflective uniform.Deliveroo

June 2014: After starting out with just three restaurants, Deliveroo raises its first $2.75 million funding round from Index and Hoxton Ventures. The money is going to be vital for the company’s expansion.

The early Deliveroo team. Shu is in the black t-shirt at the front. Orlowski is centre, in the roo suit.Index Ventures

Late 2014: Deliveroo launches in its first UK city outside of London, Brighton.

Vladislav Gajic / Shutterstock

Late 2015: After only two years in operation, Deliveroo is almost a unicorn and worth more than $600 million. It would take more than a year for the startup to reach the coveted $1 billion valuation, though.

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December 2015: The backlash begins. Deliveroo has hundreds of cyclists peddling around dropping off people’s takeaway food — except these riders are not directly employed by the company. The startup is drawn into the emerging gig economy debate.

Sam Shead/Business Insider UK

A damning Guardian article by Stefan Stern criticised Deliveroo’s low wages and job security.

February 2016: Deliveroo cofounder Greg Orlowski quietly leaves the company. He goes on to cofound Peanut with Michelle Kennedy, a meeting app for mums.

Peanut

August 2016: Deliveroo gets closer to unicorn status with a new tranche of $285 million in funding. It is now firmly one of the buzziest and best-capitalised British tech startups around, and well-loved by its users.

Deliveroo

September 2016: The startup rebrands, abandoning its cute, cartoony kangaroo logo in favour of a geometric, abstract design. Some people think the new design looks a little like a rude two-fingered gesture.

The new geometric Deliveroo logo, which is still intended to portray a kangaroo.Deliveroo

September 2016: Mike Hudack, a former director of product management at Facebook, joins Deliveroo as its new chief technology officer.

November 2016: The gig economy problem blows up for Deliveroo. A small new union called IWGB, targeted at gig economy workers, demands new employment status recognition from Deliveroo.

PA Images

Up until now, all of Deliveroo’s riders have been independent contractors, meaning they are not entitled to standard benefits. But union members want paid holiday and minimum wage, expensive benefits that could lose Deliveroo lots of cash.

January 2017: Deliveroo hires Thea Rogers, a former political advisor to ex-British Chancellor George Osborne, as political scrutiny of its business model grows.

Deliveroo

January 2017: Law firm Leigh Day, which has a history of success against gig economy firms, announces it might take legal action against Deliveroo over driver rights.

REUTERS/Charles Platiau

The employment status of these riders continues to be an issue. Deliveroo classes them as “self-employed,” but Leigh Day suggests that restrictions placed on them by Deliveroo could mean they should be entitled to further rights like a minimum wage and holiday pay.

April 2017: Deliveroo unveils Deliveroo Editions, pop-up kitchens for established restaurants that help them deal with takeaway requests.

Business Insider/James Cook

The company said at the time each “Editions” location — which mostly comprises car parks and other unglamorous areas — would include six or seven portable kitchens.

Read about the ambitious Deliveroo Editions plan here.

July 2017: Deliveroo moves into a shiny new London headquarters, with an on-site gym, roof top and “centre court” meeting space.

A centre court meeting space that used for large team meetings — but not for sports.Deliveroo

You can take a tour of Deliveroo’s swanky offices here.

July 2017: Sky News reports rumours that Japanese giant SoftBank is interested in investing in Deliveroo. A deal never materialises, possibly because the conglomerate went on to invest in a rival, Uber.

SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. SoftBank would go on to take a big stake in Uber, which runs a competitor to Deliveroo, Uber Eats.Koki Nagahama/Getty Images

September 2017: Deliveroo’s valuation is pegged at $2 billion after it raises $385 million from investors including US fund giants Fidelity and T Rowe Price. This cements Deliveroo’s status as one of the most valuable startups in the UK.

Deliveroo is one of the UK’s most hyped unicorns.AP / Leo Correa

October 2017: Deliveroo begins to draw unfavourable comparisons with Uber, thanks to its tendency to bend the rules. The Guardian reports that the startup didn’t ask council permission to create its pop-up kitchens, and that local neighbours are complaining about the noise.

Deliveroo

October 2017: Deliveroo warns that if it is forced to recognise its riders as employees, it might not be able to grow.

Deliveroo’s UK MD Dan Warne.UK Parliament

Deliveroo’s UK MD Dan Warne told politicians that it needs to be able to attract riders who work on a flexible basis, otherwise costs would go up.

November 2017: Deliveroo wins a victory in its legal fight against the union IWGB. A tribunal rules that the startup doesn’t need to regard its drivers as workers. Shu tells Business Insider there is lots of misunderstanding about workers’ rights among politicians and journalists.

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You can read that interview with Will Shu here.

March 2018: Deliveroo lays out a radical plan to cut its margins, in a presentation obtained by the Eater blog. According to the report, the company eventually wants to provide its own food to cut costs.

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The startup also reportedly wants to automate delivery even more to cut its margins.

May-August 2018: Deliveroo focuses on the welfare of its riders, providing accident cover, first aid training, and medical insurance globally.

Deliveroo

September 2018: Despite the rapid expansion, Deliveroo still hasn’t launched in the US at this point.

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What’s next: A merger between the world’s most valuable private company, Uber, and Deliveroo, could finally take the British company into the US. It would be the biggest exit for a UK tech firm to date, although it’s feasible the firm could stay independent and eventually go public.

Reuters