Postmates Said To Target September S-1 As Rival DoorDash Raises Quickly

On-demand delivery company Postmates is expected to pursue a Fall IPO with a public S-1 filing dropping in September, according to TechCrunch. The timing is not too surprising as the company had previously filed privately to go public, but the fact that the popular consumer startup is heading towards a filing in Q3 2019 is notable all the same.

It may join WeWork in going public in the next few months, adding a second unicorn IPO to our to-do list.

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Postmates’ debut comes after ride-hailing startups Lyft and Uber went public to disappointing reception, and while domestic on-demand rival DoorDash is one of the hottest startups in the world. 

It isn’t entirely fair to directly compare on-demand companies that focus on bringing food and other items to consumers, instead of moving those same consumers around. But there is an overlap when we look at how these companies balance market demand and a network of contract labor. Plus, Uber does have a large on-demand food business.

Postmates’ expected IPO comes after the firm raised $300 million in September of 2018, and $100 million more in January of 2019. In its history, the firm has raised angel funding, seed capital, and Series A through Series F venture rounds.

To-date, Postmates’ equity fundraising looks like this:

In the meantime, a competitor is raising cash at a head scratch worthy pace: DoorDash.

According to Crunchbase data, the company raised a $600 million Series G at a valuation of around $12.6 billion. Months before that news, the company was valued at $7.1 billion as it raised its Series F. And when it was raising its Series E about a year ago, the company was valued at $4 billion.

Put simply, in about a year, DoorDash has used fuel brought on by investors to triple its valuation.

Investors’ seemingly insatiable hunger for DoorDash is a good signal for Postmates as it nears a potential debut on the public market. If there’s faith in the private market, the public market might see that and hop onto a similar sentiment when it has the option.

Postmates did not immediately respond for a comment, but we’ll be back with more context if and when the company gets back to us.

For now, however, Postmates is trading Wall Street for sidewalks. The company just received conditional approval from San Francisco to start public trials of its delivery robot, Serve, on sidewalks across the city.

Update: Post and its headline were changed to reflect a September S-1 filing and a later IPO.

Illustration: Li-Anne Dias.