Can a snack-slinging startup deliver big profits? SoftBank hopes so

Photo: GoPuff (via LinkedIn)

A snack delivery startup called goPuff received $750m in investment from SoftBank this past summer, The Information reports. 

Now, goPuff has to figure out if it can continue delivering growth despite heavy competition from competitors like DoorDash and Grubhub.

GoPuff started out catering to college kids

When it was founded in Philadelphia in 2013, goPuff focused on convenience items popular among college-aged consumers, and today its most popular items are still Doritos, Gushers, Gatorade, Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, and Juul pods.

Unlike other delivery companies like DoorDash, which send gig workers back-and-forth between food-sellers and customers, goPuff pays drivers to deliver all its orders from its own warehouses. 

But now goPuff will have to focus on expanding behind the munchies market…

And there are a lot of hungry players in the delivery biz

GoPuff will have to carve out its piece of the pie in an incredibly competitive market — something that has proven difficult for other SoftBank-funded startups in crowded markets like Brandless (ecommerce), Wag (dog-walking), or Compass (real estate).

These are the biggest companies in the industry by market share:

• DoorDash: 33%
• Grubhub: 32%
• Uber Eats: 19%
• Postmates: 10% 
• All others: 6%