Matternet Raises $33M, Taking Drone Deliveries Public
Walmart launches 30 minute deliveries, Hungry Jack's chooses Uber Eats, who orders delivery?
The delivery world is all abuzz with Uber’s acquisition offer for Delivery Hero, which was thrown for a loop this afternoon as Prosus looks to block the takeover or extract a higher purchase price. And speaking of buzzing… drone delivery startup Matternet is going public, collecting $33M in new funding along the way. And we’ve got big partnership news from down under, plus interesting socioeconomic data. Let’s dig in!
Today’s edition is brought to you by Uber.
Today:
Walmart Battles Amazon with 30-Min Deliveries
Hungry Jack’s — That’s Aussie Burger King — Picks Uber Eats
Chart Time | Delivering Alms for the Poor?
Matternet Reverse Merges Its Way to Public Markets
Q-COMMERCE | Walmart Expands 30-Minute Deliveries
Walmart is expanding its quick commerce offering, bringing 30-minute or less delivery to 33 U.S. markets. The Bentonville Big Boxer now offers 100,000 SKUs in half an hour or better in over 19,000 zip codes: meaning the service likely covers about half the U.S. population. “We’ve been delivering orders in 30 minutes or less for more than a year, and today 26% of our Express Deliveries are already arriving in that timeframe,” said Tracy Poulliot, Chief eCommerce Officer, Walmart U.S. This fast tier will cost Walmart+ subscribers 10 bucks per order, and will be offered alongside one-hour, three-hour and scheduled deliveries.
The Big Picture: Walmart and Amazon are ratcheting up their battle for speed, with Amazon launching its own 30-minute delivery service — Amazon Now — just last month. The two shopping giants are offering their quick-commerce solutions in a number of overlapping markets: including Austin, Dallas, Houston and Oklahoma City. ¡Arriba! ¡Arriba!
PARTNER | Why It Doesn’t Have to Be Humans vs. Machines
A new report makes the case for a hybrid autonomous vehicle network that gives cities time to plan, protects workers from sudden displacement, and keeps service available beyond the wealthiest zip codes.
RESTAURANTS | Hungry Jack’s Exclusively Partners with Uber Eats
Hungry Jack’s, the Australian franchisee of Burger King Corporation, announced a multi-year partnership with Uber Eats, naming the 3PD as its exclusive delivery partner in Australia. Uber Eats now covers 90% of Australia’s population, operating in 120+ cities and towns; this partnership will mean Hungry Jack’s is leaving DoorDash. Hungry Jack’s once had an exclusive partnership with Menulog, but the Just Eat Takeaway.com-owned subsidiary shuttered its operations in late 2025.
The Big Picture: Hankering for a Big Jack? (No, not a Big Mac, nor a Jumbo Jack.) Hungry Jack’s nomenclature might summon more confusion than recognition: this burger chain’s corporate history is rife with legal intrigue. Nevertheless, it’s actually the second largest Burger King franchisee in the world, with 450+ locations down under. The menu includes some recognizable classics like the Whopper, as well as some very Aussie-specific items like an Angry Brekky Wrap, Cheese Toastie and Storm Inspired By Skittles. Bon appers!
CHART TIME | Who’s Ordering All That Delivery?
The Argument parsed the numbers, revealing just how prevalent delivery has become in the United States. The most frequent orderers fall into the medium-low income band, earning $30-50k per year: they order an average of 11.9 transactions per person per year, working out to $427 per head. Households earning less than $30k, strapped for both time and cash, spend a whopping 1.71% of their household income on food delivery.
DRONES | Matternet Raises $33M Amid Go-Public Transaction
Drone delivery startup Matternet raised $33 million in a private placement offering, led by new investors that include EE Holdings and Montrose Capital Partners, while including participation from several existing investors. Concurrently, Matternet completed a reverse merger with publicly-listed shell corp. Los Altos Ventures Corporation, which has been renamed Matternet, Inc. and will continue operating Matternet’s business. While Matternet plans to use the new funds to “launch its next-generation drone delivery platform and expand commercial operations across food, retail, and healthcare,” it’s hard to imagine accomplishing all that with just $33M. We wouldn’t be surprised if Matternet keeps issuing shares to raise more capital; the 8-K looks like there are plenty of shares left authorized but not yet issued.
The Big Picture: Drone delivery keeps picking up speed. Brazil-based iFood and Speedbird Aero just launched aerial restaurant deliveries in São Paulo, while Walmart logged its millionth drone delivery (with 400K in Q1 alone.) Meanwhile, Zipline has raised hundreds of millions, while it dukes it out with Flytrex for aerial superiority above Dallas. Matternet’s gotten far on a tight budget — check out our recent interview with Founder & CEO Andreas Raptopoulos — but fighting gravity gets expensive fast.
A Few Good Links
Join us next Tuesday in Detroit for the latest edition of the Urban Autonomy Summit: RSVP Now! Uber and Autobrains to launch agentic AI robotaxi in Munich. DoorDash + Wolt + Deliveroo launch international World Cup-related ad campaign. DD launches Summer of DashPass; scores partnership with Dollar Tree; receives permission to keep operating in Boston. Dog Haus adds 50 units. After opening first U.S. store in LA, China’s Chagee plans stateside expansion. FedEx Freight completes spinout. Canada Post workers ratify contract. Costco profit jumps 15%. Walmart curbs AI usage. Texas court cuts shipper liability in Home Depot/Werner suit. Zomato launches Healthy Subscriptions. Deliveroo adds stationery chain Ryman, celebrates Afro-Caribbean cuisine. Anthropic files to go public. Bolt partners with Pony.ai. Yelp supports California’s COMPETE Act. Grab’s push into Taiwan dogged by Chinese mapping concerns. GOFO speeds up deliveries. Inventory management startup Radar raises $170M. Daiso ramps up store-based fulfillment in Korea. Arcos Dorados’ revenue jumps 12.9%. Little Caesars heads to Malaysia. Kroger cuts prices. Wonder looks to move up IPO. Stord raises $250M. Nongshim partners with Blinkit. Heat waves cripple India’s gig workers. Waymo’s Ojai picks up first riders. Robot.com launches R-ads. Waymo and Avride dominate Texas AV fleet counts. Yum Brands may have buyer for Pizza Hut.
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