Sign at the entrance to the Wonder store in Midtown Manhattan.
Erik Mcgregor | Lightrocket | Getty Images
Food startup Wonder has confidentially filed for an initial public offering, the company said Thursday.
Created by serial entrepreneur Marc Lore in 2018, Wonder advertises itself as “the best restaurants from across the country, all in one place,” available for delivery and takeout on its vertically integrated app.
Originally envisioned as a new take on food delivery through sprinter vans outfitted with mobile kitchens, Wonder has grown to roughly 170 brick-and-mortar locations throughout the U.S. Its locations serve menu items from more than two dozen “restaurants” across a variety of cuisines, some with branding from celebrity chefs.
Starting Nov. 17, the company plans to introduce more dining options through Wonder Create. Influencers, entrepreneurs and brands can pay $10 a month to start their own restaurant business based out of a Wonder location and earn a portion of the revenue from orders.
Wonder has spent at least $1 billion on acquisitions, such as delivery service Grubhub, meal kit brand Blue Apron and delivery and logistics provider Relay, along with some buzzy restaurant concepts. Wonder has been able to afford such expensive dealmaking thanks to more than $3 billion in venture funding.
Wonder’s Series D fundraising round earlier this year raised its pre-money valuation to $9 billion.
With the proceeds from an IPO, Wonder will be able to make more acquisitions and work toward its goal of making food more accessible, Lore told CNBC in September.
But as a public company, Wonder will also likely face investor scrutiny. Weak consumer sentiment has weighed on restaurant stocks recently, plus market volatility has resulted in a shaky IPO market for companies across a range of industries.
Lore previously founded Diapers.com and Jet.com, which he sold to Amazon and Walmart, respectively.