Dive Brief:

• DoorDash could go public in November or December through a traditional initial public offering, according to Bloomberg, which cited people familiar with the matter.
• The company originally filed a confidential draft registration statement on Form S-1 in February with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an IPO of its common stock. 
• A DoorDash representative was unavailable for comment by press time.

Dive Insight:

DoorDash's long-awaited IPO would make it the first food delivery company to go public since Uber went public in 2019, following Waitr's public debut in 2018. Both Uber's and Waitr's IPOs were a bit bumpy. For Waitr, its first full year on the stock exchange didn't go well, with mounting debt and sliding stock prices. But under new management, it turned profitable this year after the company cut costs and worked to build up its restaurant partners. Uber Eats is now Uber's most profitable business following the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic, which led to an increase in orders and a decrease in ridesharing.

Although Bloomberg reports that DoorDash is still unprofitable, DoorDash appears to be more prepared to go public, especially after building up a large war chest. In June, the company secured an additional $400 million, bringing its valuation up to $16 billion. It has raised around $2 billion from venture capital firms since its foundation.

DoorDash has also been adding more tools for its restaurant partners since the start of the pandemic, adding turnkey digital storefronts, customer tracking for pickup orders and a zero commission contactless to-go feature that allows customers to order in-store using a QR code. It's also been diversifying outside of the restaurant delivery space, adding grocery delivery to its app last week and an online convenience store DashMart in early August. 

Adding products outside of restaurant delivery will allow DoorDash to better compete with the likes of Uber Eats, which began rolling out grocery delivery in July, and build up additional revenue streams as it heads toward public status. 

Becoming public will also allow DoorDash to raise additional capital, which could prepare it for additional acquisitions. This year has already seen Uber buying Postmates and Just Eat Takeaway acquiring Grubhub. DoorDash bought Caviar in August 2019, just months after it surpassed Grubhub in terms of market share. DoorDash now dominates the segment with 45% market share as of July, and an IPO may give it further fuel to grow.