Another $10B Delivery IPO?
Tesla's first restaurant, Marco's delivery robot, Vietnamese pizza toppings
Big news out of Southeast Asia - where we’ve got more IPO news and some interesting pizza toppings. Speaking of pizza, Marco’s is rolling out some robots with Magna. And Tesla is getting into the restaurant game. Read on!
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Today:
Thailand’s $10 Billion 3PD IPO
Tesla Breaks Ground on First Restaurant
Chart Time | Vietnamese Pizza Preferences
Marco’s & Magna Team Up on Delivery Robots
FINANCE | Thailand’s 3PD Line Man Wongnai Preps IPO
Another day, another IPO! Thai food delivery giant Line Man Wongnai (say it with me slowly) is preparing for an initial public offering on Bangkok’s stock exchange. The rumor mill puts the valuation at $10 billion plus, although the company will only extract a modest $300 million or so in fresh cash. The Thai stock index — SET — is down about 6% for the year, causing other rumored IPOs, like that of Big C Retail Corp, to be postponed. Last year Line Man Wongnai raised $265 million in a series B valued at $1 billion plus, with backing by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, Taiwan Mobile Co, BRV Capital, and PTT Oil & Retail.
The Big Picture: The company’s origins go back to 2010, when four engineering college graduates teamed up to form Wongnai, initially an online restaurant review site. The company raised a series A in 2013-14 and then started offering online ordering in 2016. That ordering capability was in partnership with Line, the pan-Asian super app that’s used for everything from messaging to payments to gaming. In 2020, Line spun out its food ordering arm and the companies merged together to form Line Man Wongnai — which now boasts 1 million plus merchants and over 100,00 drivers. In Thailand, competitors include Grab, Foodpanda and SCB Robinhood.
PARTNER | Curbivore Conference Brings Delivery Execs to LA
The Curbivore conference returns to LA: March 28 & 29, 2024. This event brings together the entire world of delivery and curbside commerce — speakers have included Uber’s Head of Grocery + Retail Fulfillment Products David Meers, Walmart’s VP of Spark Driver Platform Nav Chadha, Kitchen United CEO Michael Montagano, Pizzana Founder Candace Nelson, Business Insider Restaurant Correspondent Nancy Luna, Wonder Co-Founder Chad Lore, Yummy.com CEO Barnaby Montgomery, JOKR COO Aspa Lekka, Nextbite CEO Alex Canter, Serve Co-Founder MJ Chun and many more. $99 Early Bird tix available for a limited time!
RESTAURANTS | Would You Eat at a Tesla Diner?
EV maker Tesla broke ground on its long-rumored first restaurant, located in the Hollywood Media District of Los Angeles. Set to have a retro-futuristic design, the eatery will boast 32 charging stalls, two movie screens, a rooftop bar and 24/7 operations. The site is a former Shakey’s pizzeria and is in the midst of a dense neighborhood that’s otherwise many miles from another one of the company’s vaunted Superchargers, guaranteeing steady foot traffic (car traffic?)
The Big Picture: While Tesla has been teasing this concept since 2018, it only just started construction. Operating plans include carhop-style waitstaff that may bring meals to patrons who have ordered ahead in their vehicles. But here’s a question — will you be able to order delivery from the Teslaraunt? If so, will it be brought to you via a Model 3 or Y?
CHART TIME | International Pizza Party
Pizza - is it the most beloved of foods worldwide? Check out this chart from Measureable.ai, ranking the most popular pizzerias in Vietnam. While the country may be known for its own culinary treasures (who else wants a banh mi for lunch?) evidently the locals don’t mind chowing down on American pie-preparers like Pizza Hut or Domino’s. That’s not to say the menu isn’t adapted for regional taste — anyone up for a Seafood Black Pepper pizza, a Cheesy Bites Trio Shrimp or a Premium Honey Cheese?
AUTOMATION | Marco’s Pizza Rolls Out Magna Delivery Bots
Marco’s Pizza is teaming up with Magna International to “explore new mobility solutions in last-mile food delivery.” Toledo, Ohio-based Marco’s is now the country’s 5th largest pizza chain, with 1,100+ stores in 33 states; local franchise holders will be able to choose from a number of different LMD-automating devices. Marco’s is looking for a model where it can offer the hardware to local franchisees at a reasonable cost. “We have to be able to supply these new devices to our franchisees at a reasonable cost so that, when that cost is passed on to the consumer, it’s affordable,” said CIO Rick Stanbridge.
The Big Picture: This is an interesting play for Magna International, an auto parts making giant that’s recently pushed into expanded forms of mobility and delivery. The company makes a home-grown delivery bot but also has a strategic collaboration with PDD startup Cartken, whereby it both manufactures its bots, but also invested in the company. With two different bots in its arsenal, will Magna be able to offer unbiased advice to the pizza-maker?
A Few Good Links
Canada’s SkipTheDishes, owned by Just Eat Takeaway, offers $0 delivery for customers ordering 2 or more times per month. Inspire Brands (Arby’s, Baskin-Robbins, BWW, Dunkin’, Jimmy John’s, Sonic) turns to Fiserv for omnichannel payment and ordering tech. Panera expands ezCater partnership. Skepticism on Kroger-Albertsons merger. Amazon and Shift4 push Just Walk Out tech. Uber appoints new CFO, while Flexport CFO resigns. Zipline receives BVLOS certification. DoorDash delivers 80 million meals to marginalized communities. How Wow Bao got to 600 ghost kitchen locations. Walmart to sell Chuck E. Cheese pizza. Taco Bell debuts vegan nacho sauce. Teamsters push NHTSA to nix Cruise’s delivery robot.
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