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Marc Lore is ready to ring the bell. The serial entrepreneur\u2014who previously sold Jet.com to Walmart for $3.3 billion\u2014told Fortune exclusively that his food delivery and service company Wonder will be \u201cready and prepared to go public early next year.\u201d And the company has news to back it up.<\/p>\n
Wonder, Lore\u2019s food\u2011tech platform, raised a more than $650 million Series D at a $9 billion valuation, the company told Fortune exclusively. Returning investors Accel, GV, and NEA participated. New entrants include AllianceBernstein, Cathie Wood\u2019s ARK Invest, and Kayne Anderson. Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, and J.P. Morgan served as placement agents. The round brings Wonder\u2019s total raised to approximately $3 billion since its founding in 2018.<\/p>\n
Wonder operates 135 food halls across 10 East Coast states. Each location runs up to 30 restaurant concepts\u2014including licensed names like Bobby Flay Steak and Tejas Barbeque\u2014out of a single kitchen. Customers order through Wonder\u2019s app, combining dishes from multiple concepts in one transaction, with Wonder handling cooking and last\u2011mile delivery itself. The company also owns Grubhub, acquired for $650 million early last year (including $500 million in assumed debt), and Blue Apron, bought in 2023 for $103 million.<\/p>\n
Lore reframes Wonder\u2019s ambitions beyond the coasts. \u201cOur mission is to make great food more accessible,\u201d he told Fortune. \u201cThat\u2019s really where we excel\u2014in places where the food\u2019s not currently available, at price points that are currently not possible.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Wonder\u2019s current footprint is still firmly Northeastern. The latest financing will fund continued expansion\u2014Wonder plans to enter Texas next year\u2014alongside investments in robotics and AI. Last November, Wonder paid $186.4 million to buy Sweetgreen\u2019s Spyce division and its Infinite Kitchen, which the company bills as the only fully automated bowl\u2011making system in commercial production. This week, it also closed on Mighty Quinn\u2019s BBQ, its second full restaurant acquisition after Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken earlier this year.<\/p>\n
But Wonder\u2019s finances appear to have their own hurdles. According to investor materials reviewed by The Information, Wonder projects burning nearly $2.7 billion in cash through 2029 and is expected to lose roughly $618 million on an adjusted EBITDA basis this year alone, before reaching positive cash flow in 2030.<\/p>\n
Lore pushed back on this framing: \u201cThe economics are often misunderstood,\u201d he argued. \u201cYou do need to make substantial investment up front\u2014the robotics, the ingredient library. All those suppress profitability in the short-term. But there\u2019s a big prize at the end of the day.\u201d He said same\u2011service\u2011area sales are growing roughly 20% year over year and that the cost of goods sold is tracking better than planned.<\/p>\n
The round also carries an IPO ratchet, giving investors extra shares if Wonder\u2019s public debut prices below 1.5 times the current round\u2019s share price\u2014a provision The Information first reported, which also noted the round fell short of Wonder\u2019s initial $11 billion target. Lore acknowledged the provision: \u201cThis is the least amount of protection we\u2019ve ever offered, on a relative basis,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Consumer trust also remains an open question. Reddit posters in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. have accused the company of misleading branding\u2014arguing Wonder is effectively a ghost kitchen (one facility churning out dozens of virtual \u201crestaurants\u201d behind a single storefront)\u2014inflating reviews and misrepresenting \u201cgluten free\u201d menu items.<\/p>\n
Lore disputes the characterizations\u2014and has a personal stake in the allergen debate. \u201cI have celiac,\u201d he said. Lore also pushed back hard on the ghost kitchen label. \u201cWe don\u2019t have microwaves. We don\u2019t reheat. We actually cook to order\u2014and that\u2019s something people should know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lore confirmed he personally invested in the round, though declined to confirm the $200 million figure reported by The Information. But he has invested in every Wonder round to date.<\/p>\n
The bigger pitch for Wonder is further out. Lore is developing MEL, an AI platform that tracks blood biomarkers and body composition, then autonomously plans and orders every meal. He\u2019s been using it himself. \u201cAI knows me better than myself,\u201d he said. \u201cNever would have said that\u2019s what I\u2019d pick to eat\u2014but I love it.\u201d The vision is a single platform covering restaurant delivery, meal kits via Blue Apron, and soon oven\u2011ready meals at grocery\u2011store prices\u2014all managed by an AI that, as he put it, becomes \u201ca better version of yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
The IPO, when it comes, will test Wall Street\u2019s appetite.<\/p>\n
#Marc #Lore #gearing #IPO #raising #million #billion #valuation<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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