PHILADELPHIA—Gopuff has a new investor—Bob Iger, former CEO and chairman of Disney. Iger also will advise Gopuff co-founders and co-CEOs Yakir Gola and Rafael Ilishayev, and the broader executive team, on Gopuff’s consumer engagement and global growth.
The terms of Iger’s investment in Gopuff were not disclosed.
“It’s been exciting to spend time with Gopuff leadership learning about the company, the founders and their aspirations,” Iger said in a news release. “I am excited to advise, mentor and support the executive team as they continue building a company uniquely designed for how consumers are changing and growing. I believe consumer commerce will be very different in the near future, and Gopuff is building the platform to power it.”
GoPuff was last valued at $15 billion by investors and aims to provide its customers with a wider and more eclectic range of goods than they might find in a bricks-and-mortar convenience store, and it delivers orders to customers in about 15 minutes. During the past seven years, Gopuff has amassed a network of more than 250 micro-fulfillment centers that service 650-plus U.S. cities in 41 states and Washington, D.C., and it recently acquired 161 BevMo! Stores.
Gopuff recently launched a private-label line, starting with its own bottled water line under the brand name Basically, and then launching Amazing, a snack line including pretzels, nuts, trail mix, popcorn and snack mix. It has filed trademark applications for own-branded household products and health and wellness products, including prescription medication and medical testing devices like blood pressure monitors.
“Bob Iger is one of the most important and visionary business leaders of this generation. He defined consumer engagement, product innovation, and organizational excellence,” said Gopuff co-founder and Co-CEO Yakir Gola. “I am so proud and excited that Bob is joining team blue. Gopuff is building a platform designed for the future of the consumer industry and nobody understands consumers better than Bob Iger.”
Gola insists that his company can crack the instant delivery code, but after deciding to not go public this year and laying off about 3% of its workforce, the question now is if Gopuff has done delivery differently enough in a crowded space.
According to NACS’ “Last Mile Fulfillment in Convenience Retail” report, only 61% of retailers are satisfied with their third-party delivery partners. Concerns include high fees, little access to consumer data, difficulties delivering age-restricted products and service and operational issues. Read more about these challenges and what c-stores are doing to make delivery work for their businesses in “Delivering Convenience” in the December 2021 issue of NACS Magazine.