Deliveroo, whose Kangaroo logo is a common
sight on scooters and bicycles around Britain,
said that it raised $575 million from a number of
investors led by Amazon. The Seattle company
will be Deliveroo’s largest investor, but did not
disclose how much of a stake Amazon acquired.
Amazon.com Inc. declined to comment.
With Amazon now on its side, shares of
Deliveroo’s competitors fell last week. Just Eat,
which trades on the London Stock Exchange,
dropped 8%. And Uber, the ride-hailing
company that owns UberEats, fell 1.3%.
Founded in 2013, Deliveroo has about 60,000
riders delivering food from some 80,000
restaurants in 14 countries, including Australia,
France and Germany.
Like other so-called gig economy companies,
Deliveroo has run into legal tussles over whether
its riders count as employees and should get
work benefits.
While some workers would want the legal status
of employee, with more fixed hours and greater
benefits, others like the flexibility to decide
when and how long to work.
In May, Britain’s High Court ruled that Deliveroo
riders do not in fact have the right to collective
bargaining, by which they negotiate pay, hours
and vacation time as a group of employees
rather than individually.
Deliveroo said the new investments will help
it try new operations, such as delivery-only
kitchens, in an effort to expand its reach.
“This is great news for the tech and restaurant
sectors, and it will help to create jobs in all of the
countries in which we operate,” said Will Shu, the
founder and CEO of Deliveroo.