Wonder raises $650M Series D at $9B valuation ahead of 2027 IPO
What's the deal? Wonder, the food-tech platform founded by serial entrepreneur Marc LoreDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, has raised more than $650 million in a Series D round at a $9 billion pre-money valuation. Returning investors Accel, Google Ventures, and NEA participated, alongside new entrants AllianceBernsteinDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Cathie Wood's ARK InvestDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Kayne AndersonDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. Goldman Sachs, Jefferies, and J.P. Morgan served as placement agents. The round brings Wonder's total raised to more than $3 billion since its 2018 founding.
What is Wonder? The company operates 135 food halls across 10 East Coast states. Each location runs up to 30 restaurant concepts — including licensed names like Bobby Flay's Amalfi and Tejas Barbeque — from a single kitchen, with Wonder handling cooking and last-mile delivery itself. Customers order through its app, combining dishes from multiple concepts in one transaction.
What's the endgame? Lore told Fortune the company will be "ready and prepared to go public early next year." The latest financing will fund expansion into Texas, Wonder's first move beyond the Northeast, alongside investments in robotics and AI. "Our mission is to make great food more accessible," Lore said, "in places where the food's not currently available, at price points that are currently not possible."
The buying spree: Wonder owns Grubhub, acquired for $650 million early last year (including $500 million in assumed debt), and Blue Apron, bought in 2023 for $103 million. Last November it paid $186.4 million for Sweetgreen's Spyce division and its Infinite Kitchen automation system. This week it closed on Mighty Quinn's BBQ, its second full restaurant acquisition after Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken earlier this year.
What could go wrong? According to investor materials reviewed by The Information, Wonder projects burning nearly $2.7 billion in cash through 2029 and expects to lose roughly $618 million on an adjusted EBITDA basis this year, before reaching positive cash flow in 2030. The round also carries an IPO ratchet, granting investors extra shares if Wonder's public debut prices below 1.5 times the current round's share price. Lore pushed back on the burn framing: "The economics are often misunderstood."
The signal: Lore, who sold Jet.com to Walmart for $3.3 billion, is betting that owning the full stack — kitchens, delivery, and brands — can crack food delivery's thin margins where others have struggled. The IPO timeline will test whether investors buy the model before the profits arrive.
