Marc Lore’s Wonder bets on Texas, automation and user-built restaurants as it mulls IPO — SkimNews
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- Texas becomes Wonder's next expansion target: the company plans to enter the state next year and open at least 100 locations by the end of 2027, on top of 170 storefronts built over the last three years.
- Wonder has raised $3.3 billion to date, with its Series D this year setting a $9 billion pre-money valuation — just under sandwich chain Subway's sale price two years ago — from backers including DoorDash, GV and Gwyneth Paltrow.
- Marc Lore said he wants to go public to raise capital and have "public currency" to do more M&A, but declined to discuss timing; Wonder hired Gabrielle Scheibe Rabinovitch, previously at Worldpay, as CFO in March, and The Information reported the company has operated at a financial loss since buying Blue Apron and Grubhub.
- Wonder Create is set to start Nov. 17, letting influencers, entrepreneurs and brands pay $10 a month to run their own "restaurant" out of a Wonder location, earn a portion of order revenue and use AI to build a name, logo, pricing and recipes, with the platform eventually opened to the public so diners pick items from Wonder's pantry.
- MEL, Wonder's proprietary AI platform, can use health data from an Oura ring, a Whoop tracker or blood biomarkers to prepare meals but is not currently available to Wonder customers; separately, the company is automating kitchen tasks such as salad and bowl assembly and aims for fully autonomous food preparation and delivery by 2040.
- Wonder runs all-electric storefronts with no gas or venting, supplied by commissary kitchens, and its ownership of Grubhub means app orders carry no delivery fee and menu prices aren't inflated to cover commission fees — a structure it distinguishes from ghost kitchens such as Kitchen United, which sought bankruptcy protection.
- Indagari transaction data showed Wonder posted a higher weighted average retention rate and higher lifetime value than Cava and Sweetgreen, even as customers complained about quality — one Philadelphia diner paid $16 for three tacos he said should have cost no more than $8.
Why it matters: Wonder's IPO case rests on a mismatch: $3.3 billion raised, a $9 billion pre-money valuation, and a financial loss since buying Blue Apron and Grubhub, while a diner paid $16 for three tacos he expected to cost $8. Indagari data showing higher retention and lifetime value than Cava and Sweetgreen is the counterweight.
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