DoorDash & Klarna Want You to Split That Burrito Into Fourths
Bolt buys Viggo, Instacart's big updates, meals vs groceries
Money, money, money! That’s on the mind today, with Klarna notching a big 3PD partnership for its payment processing, Bolt buying up Viggo and Instacart cooperating with a new credit card (among other updates.)
This week’s edition is brought to you by Curbivore 2025 — join industry leaders in just two and a half weeks, in the Downtown LA Arts District!
Today:
Klarna Claims DoorDash
Bolt-ing On Viggo
Chart Time | Prepared Meals or Groceries?
New Instacart Offerings
PARTNERSHIPS | DoorDash Teams Up with Klarna
We all know egg prices are out of control… so is the way to solve the “$20 egg sandwich problem” to let consumers split it into four payments? Klarna and DoorDash seem to think so, as they’ve teamed up to offer consumers more payment options on things like groceries, retail and DoorDash annual plans. Options include: Pay in Full, which allows customers to pay for what they love right away; Pay in 4, which allows customers to pay in four equal interest-free installments; and Pay Later, which allows customers to defer payments to a more convenient time, such as payday.
The Big Picture: The internet has been having a field day with this announcement, teasing the idea of “collateralized DoorDash obligations” as a harbinger of economic malaise. Klarna’s CEO defended the concept, reminding folks that you can now use DoorDash to buy say thousand dollar laptops. If you can split those payments up when you order directly through the merchant, why not offer the same possibility via the 3PD? Klarna’s big IPO is now set for late April, and eye-grabbing partnerships will be key to scoring a lofty valuation.
DoorDash’s Co-Founder & Chief Product Officer Stanley Tang joins us at Curbivore. Learn more about the company’s big product updates and market-moving partnerships this April 11th. Register now!
EVENTS | Wing, Uber, Gridwise… Execs & Top Regulators Head to Curbivore
Curbivore 2025’s amazing lineup just got even more stacked! We’re delighted to be joined by Adam Woodworth, the CEO of Wing; Richard Wilder, Global Head of Regulatory Policy at Uber, Jarvis Murray, who’s in charge of TNCs, carsharing, micromobility and delivery bots at LADOT; as well as top execs from the likes of Lyft, Nexar, The Verge, Gridwise, Tranzito and more!
ACQUISITIONS | Bolt Buys Viggo
European mobility and delivery app Bolt has made its first-ever acquisition, buying Viggo for an undisclosed sum. Viggo is a Danish ridehailing app, founded in 2019, that’s built a base of 300 EVs and nearly half a million users across Copenhagen and other Danish cities. While Bolt operates e-bikes in Copenhagen, this will allow it to start its larger ridehailing ops in the high-income nation of six million. A second announcement, a partnership with taxi company Taxi 4x27, adds another 600 vehicles to the Bolt platform.
The Big Picture: Denmark has been a tough market for TNCs to crack, with Uber pulling out in 2017, before reentering earlier this year via a collaboration with taxi co Drivr, albeit offering rides at the same price as traditional cabs. Bolt is very much in growth mode these days, glomming on new markets and services as it hunts for an IPO. Bolt has been cautious about which Northern European markets get its food delivery offering… will Copenhagen make the cut?
CHART TIME | Prepared Food or Just the Ingredients?
Delivery World has broken down rev share of the planet’s big deliverers, noting which ones are heavy on restaurant meals and which are all-in on groceries and retail. 3PDs generally lean quite heavily one way or the other, with only Korea’s Coupang showing a near even split.
PRODUCT | Instacart Unveils Slew of New Features
Instacart’s got some new tricks up its sleeve, with a raft of product updates speaking to its wide-array of services. A new AI-powered “smart shop” will offer consumers personalized nutritional recommendations. Universal Campaigns gives advertisers a simpler way to deploy creative across multiple formats. The company’s FoodStorm order management system has gone live at 129 Market 32 / Price Chopper locations, improving the grocer’s takeout and catering biz. A new collab with the American Diabetes Association will offer diabetic-oriented options for shoppers using Instacart Health Fresh Funds. And finally a new team-up with Chase means that United MileagePlus cardmembers will get free access to Instacart+.
The Big Picture: Some of these moves have become standard across the biz, while others are unique to Instacart. A credit card partnership is pretty routine, with Chase also offering members complimentary DashPass. Instacart has been at the vanguard of the 3PDs-as-ad-networks game, growing the segment to $1.18B last year, neck and neck with Uber despite the latter having a much larger business overall. And the FoodStorm move shows how the company’s focus on grocery gives it some unique capabilities unmatched in the field, alongside its unique Caper Carts.
A Few Good Links
Temu revenue growth slows. Sodexo revenue up 3.1%. Darden’s Cheddar’s Scartch Kitchen pilots Uber Direct. DoorDash’s MVP was 8 PDF menus and a Google Voice line. Uber teams up with US Army. Behind the scenes on the iPhone delivery fraud ring. Grubhub celebrates restaurant perseverance. Tariffs tarnish Walmart and Target. USPS tweaks delivery standards. Shipt brings portable benefits to Utah. JET and Prosus make progress. Deliveroo offers delivery from Diddly Squat farm, adds new London restaurants, integrates with Boots Advantage Card. FedEx profit hits $909M. BYD unveils 5-min fast charge. Bolt invents heated jeans for winter couriers. Dodai brings battery-swap to Ethiopia.
Got a tip, feedback, or just want to say hi? Reply back to this email.
— Brought to you by the Curbivore Crew. Register now!