Uber Eats Now Fastest-Growing Food Delivery App

Watch out, Grubhub: Uber Eats is currently the fastest-growing meal delivery service in the U.S.

According to Recode, Uber Eats is bringing in nearly as much new customer revenue as Grubhub, with customers spending more on Uber Eats than on any other food delivery service in nine of the 22 most populous U.S. cities.

The data comes from Second Measure, a company that analyzes billions of dollars’ worth of anonymized debit and credit card purchases.

The news is surprising given that just six months ago, Uber Eats dominated in only three Texas cities: Houston, Austin and Dallas. Now, it’s surpassed Grubhub in El Paso, DoorDash in Fort Worth and Postmates in Phoenix. Even more surprising: It beat out Amazon Restaurants in Amazon’s home city of Seattle.

There seems to be plenty of business to go around for all in the market. Overall food delivery sales grew 51 percent from August to March. And 11 percent of U.S. restaurant sales are expected to come from delivery orders by 2022 – an increase from an estimated 6 percent in 2017, according to Morgan Stanley Research. That is a $32 billion market opportunity within four years.

Two players, Postmates and DoorDash, have discussed a merger as a way to take on their better-funded rivals.

Currently, Grubhub, which also owns Seamless and Eat24, is the biggest company in the United States dedicated to restaurant delivery, with a public market value of $8.5 billion. And Uber Eats operates in more than 140 North American cities.

If they were to merge, DoorDash and Postmates would have about 23 percent market share. Uber Eats has around 20 percent of the market, while Grubhub — counting Seamless and Eat24 — has 52 percent.

And last month, DoorDash raised $535 million in a Series D round, which could bring its value to $1.4 billion in a post-money valuation. SoftBank Group led the round, along with participation from GIC, Wellcome Trust and Sequoia Capital.