Marc Lore's Wonder Files Confidentially for IPO After $9 Billion Valuation

The company said in a press release on Thursday that the number of shares and the price range have not yet been determined, and that the offering depends on market and other conditions and on the SEC finishing its review. The release did not name a stock exchange or any underwriters. A confidential filing lets a company work through the regulator's comments while keeping its financial statements private until shortly before it markets the shares.

The filing puts one of the most heavily funded US food technology companies on a path to public markets at a time when investors are judging consumer businesses on whether automation can bring down the cost of preparing and delivering a meal. Wonder has made that its central pitch. It has said it plans to use robotics and AI to automate much of its restaurant operations, which it argues will lower delivery costs to the point where customers could rely on it for 21 meals a week, according to Nation's Restaurant News.

Wonder was founded in 2018. Lore previously founded Diapers.com and Jet.com, which he sold to Walmart for more than $3 billion. In July the company raised more than $650 million in a round that valued it at about $9 billion, with backers including Accel, GV, AllianceBernstein and ARK Invest. It has raised more than $3 billion over the past several years, Nation's Restaurant News reported. Wonder has previously said it expects to be "IPO-ready" by early next year.

A Roll-Up of Food Brands

The company runs food halls designed mainly for delivery and pickup, each offering dishes from 20 to 30 restaurant concepts that Wonder has created, licensed or bought. It operates about 170 locations along the US East Coast, roughly three times its footprint a year ago, according to Nation's Restaurant News. Wonder has said it aims to open more than 100 locations in Texas by the end of 2027.

Alongside the food halls, Wonder has assembled a group of acquisitions: meal-kit company Blue Apron, delivery platform Grubhub, food media company Tastemade and kitchen robotics company Spyce. It bought Grubhub from Just Eat Takeaway.com for $650 million, cut 23% of the delivery unit's staff and dropped restaurant fees on orders over $50 to compete with DoorDash and Uber, Investing.com reported. Blue Apron has moved from a subscription model to selling prepared meals individually.

Wonder's dealings with DoorDash over Grubhub's college business are described differently by different outlets. TechCrunch characterised it as a $425 million partnership to expand campus dining, which operates at 450 colleges and universities and other sites, while Investing.com reported that Wonder agreed to sell Grubhub's campus dining operations to DoorDash for $300 million.

The company is also marketing Wonder Create, a platform that lets chefs and social media creators develop restaurant brands and menu items, and which uses AI to design and launch a restaurant brand in less than a minute, according to TechCrunch.

Cost Cuts Before the Listing

Wonder has trimmed costs ahead of the filing. In September it cut about 7% of its corporate staff, or roughly 150 people, and laid off 533 food workers in New Jersey as it consolidated two production plants into one with higher capacity, Nation's Restaurant News reported.

No revenue or profit figures have been made public. Those numbers, and the share count and price range, will appear only when Wonder files its registration statement publicly, which under SEC rules must happen at least 15 days before it begins a roadshow for investors.