British food delivery firm Deliveroo files for IPO

Several companies and investment firms are backing Deliveroo, including online retail giant Amazon

As the popularity of food delivery continues to surge, British food courier Deliveroo today filed the first paperwork required for listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), The Wall Street Journal reported. The filing doesn't indicate how much money the company is looking to raise, though unnamed sources noted the company's valuation is approximately $10 billion.

Several companies and investment firms are backing Deliveroo, including tech and online retail giant Amazon. A lineup of investment and equity firms is also supporting the delivery service's plan, CNBC reports. The actual IPO will likely occur sometime in March, though no firm date is set at this time.

Chasing elusive profitability in the frequently loss-generating food delivery market, Deliveroo said it lost approximately $309 million last year. This came even as it reported top-line gains of nearly 64% for 2020. The revenue jump did help to reduce bottom-line losses, since 2019's loss was even larger at $438 million, but Deliveroo is still operating in the red.

The IPO of competitor DoorDash last December may have helped push Deliveroo toward going public in turn. DoorDash's fortunes have, however, shown an IPO may not be the end of a food delivery company's troubles. The company's share price has been plummeting for days despite an upbeat analyst research note and price target, as it continues generating losses even with surging levels of revenue growth.

Deliveroo's CEO Will Shu struck an upbeat note nevertheless, saying his company is "still getting started," according to CNBC. The IPO filing notes a dual-class share structure, in which most shares give their holders one vote, while those held by Shu himself grant 20 votes per share for the first three years after the company goes public.