You can scratch what you heard just a few months ago about the end of SpoonRocket because its new owner, Brazil-based iFood, is bringing it back. Well, sort of.
SpoonRocket, the on-demand meal delivery startup that shut down in the U.S. in March, is relaunching in Brazil under its parent company, iFood. At the time of the acquisition, iFood said it planned to use SpoonRocket’s logistics platform to optimize delivery times and order tracking, improve the restaurant-to-customer experience and continue expanding throughout Latin America. All of that is still happening, but in addition to that, iFood is bringing back a revamped SpoonRocket.
Unlike the way SpoonRocket operated in the U.S., the company will not prepare and deliver its own food. Instead, SpoonRocket will leave the food preparation up to the restaurants, focus on curating menus, and the tech and logistics that goes into on-demand food delivery. SpoonRocket in Brazil will target restaurants that don’t currently have food delivery options, while iFood will continue to offer its platform for restaurants that have their own delivery services.
“Focusing on what each one does better, we alongside our partners are able to provide a unique experience to our customers,” SpoonRocket CEO Roberto Gandolfo said. “There are fantastic restaurants in Brazil, some of them listed on the Michelin Guide, that have not operated delivery because it’s a big challenge and requires them to go beyond their core competence. SpoonRocket makes it an easier process and offers a new market to these restaurants.”
Already, SpoonRocket has more than 300 restaurants on board the platform in São Paulo. In the near future, SpoonRocket will launch in Rio de Janeiro and other Brazilian cities. Services like the one SpoonRocket is now offering in Brazil certainly already exist, but this is the first of its kind in the Brazilian market. Worldwide, there are companies like Postmates, UberEats, Foodora and Deliveroo. Last month, Deliveroo raised an additional $275 million to expand its reach in Europe and better compete against UberEATS, which is also targeting the European market.
iFood, which launched back in 2011, is currently the largest on-demand food delivery provider in Latin America and facilitates about 2.4 million deliveries per month. Last month, iFood raised $30 million from previous investors Movile and Just Eat, bringing its total amount of funding up to $91.86 million, according to CrunchBase.
Take a look at the new SpoonRocket below.
