Billionaire Marc Lore's Wonder, valued at $9bn, is pursuing an IPO by betting on vertical integration — owning kitchens, brands, and delivery — unlike DoorDash or Uber Eats. The company operates 147 sites in the Northeast, expanding to Texas, and has raised $3bn from investors including Accel and Google Ventures.

Wonder acquired Grubhub for $650mn in 2024, gaining a courier network and 6.5mn monthly users, though Grubhub's market share fell from 7% to 5%. Lore, who sold Jet.com to Walmart for $3.3bn, says the model targets suburban areas and aims to automate kitchen production, licensing brands like Bobby Flay Steak.

Critics note the $2.5bn spent scaling and question whether automation can handle dietary needs and ingredient shortages. Self-delivery economics remain challenging outside dense cities. Lore counters that "future unit economics" matter, comparing Wonder's cash burn to early Amazon.

Wonder targets all 21 weekly meal occasions, not just occasional delivery. Lore envisions a trillion-dollar market cap and is open to international licensing partnerships.