Uber Eats Pickup Feature, sunday Raises $100M, First Watch Preps For IPO, Toast Beats IPO Target, New Zealand Losses
Daily Digest
Uber Eats adds map feature so users can find nearest restaurants for pickup (TechCrunch) The new map feature is the latest example of Uber’s aim to build out Eats — a business unit the company believes will help it hit its profitability targets. Earlier this week, Uber said it could hit one measure of profitability in the third quarter, earlier than expected. Uber said it anticipates an increase in gross bookings and stronger adjusted EBITDA in the quarter than it had forecasted for shareholders in its last investor presentation.
Restaurant payment app sunday raises $100 million to fuel global expansion and hiring spree (Evening Standard) The app is operational across the UK, France, Spain and in parts of the US and Canada. Sunday has expanded from a headcount of four to 170 - new hires include former Deliveroo growth manager, Elisabeth Osmont d'Amilly, as UK general manager - and founders now plan to use the cash to double headcount again in the next year. New funds will also be used to fuel expansion in Europe and North America. Lugger and his team are now on a mission to take the app across the hospitality and leisure sectors, and say they have a $7.5 trillion addressable market. They aim to sign 15,000 restaurants by the end of 2022 and are looking to explore acquisitions.
First Watch Restaurant Group preps for IPO and plans to raise up to $189 million (Seeking Alpha) The restaurant operator says it has averaged same-restaurant sales growth of 6.3% annually and achieved annual same-restaurant traffic growth of 1.4% annually. First Watch recorded net income of $1.8M on revenue of $281.1M in the six month period that ended June 27. Looking ahead, First Watch expects continued growth will come from opening new restaurants in existing and new geographies and driving traffic and building sales at current restaurants.
Restaurant Payments Firm Toast Prices Shares at $40 Each to Beat IPO Target (Bloomberg) The Boston-based company sold 21.7 million shares Tuesday for $40 each, according to a statement confirming an earlier report by Bloomberg News. Toast had marketed the shares for $34 to $36 apiece, a target it had raised on Monday from $30 to $33.
Restaurants Association: 1000 businesses gone, taking 13,000 jobs ( Stuff NZ) The Restaurant Association will on Thursday ask the Government that the sector be given specific attention.