Turkish start-up Getir rides the speedy grocery delivery craze to a $7.5 billion valuation

LONDON — Turkish grocery delivery start-up Getir has raised $550 million in a new investment round, valuing the company at a whopping $7.5 billion.

The Istanbul-based firm raised the fresh cash from the likes of Silver Lake, Mubadala, Sequoia and Tiger Global. Getir has now raised almost $1 billion over three separate funding rounds so far in 2021. The company was last privately valued at $2.6 billion in a May funding round.

It is the latest sign of frenzied venture investment in the red-hot speedy grocery delivery space. Apps that promise groceries shipped to customers’ doors in just 10 minutes have cropped up across Europe, with a raft of companies from Turkey’s Getir to Germany’s Gorillas raising huge sums from investors.

These firms operate so-called “dark stores,” fulfilment centers designed to carry out online orders rather than serve customers in person. Gorillas and U.K. rivals like Dija and Zapp hire their couriers rather than relying on contractors like Deliveroo and other players in the gig economy.

Gorillas is reportedly seeking an investment round of at least $500 million that would value the company at $6 billion, according to Bloomberg. Gorillas declined to comment when contacted by CNBC.

Elsewhere in the space, German rival Flink said Friday that it had raised $240 million in fresh funds from Prosus, Bond and Mubadala Capital.

Getir, which launched in London and Amsterdam earlier this year, plans to use the fresh cash for an expansion into Paris, Berlin and several cities in the United States. That would see the company directly compete with the likes of food delivery giants that have expanded into groceries, such as Uber and DoorDash, as well privately-held start-up Instacart.

“There is great appetite for Getir and rapid grocery delivery,” Nazim Salur, founder of Getir, said in a statement Friday. “As the pioneers of the market, we continue to stand out by constantly innovating to provide the industry standard.”

The rapid grocery delivery phenomenon has been fueled in no small part by the coronavirus pandemic, as people have spent more time indoors due to lockdown restrictions around the world. It has become a highly competitive market, however. Some experts doubt the model can survive over the long term, particularly given the level of investment required to scale.