From humble beginnings delivering food to Stanford students in 2013, DoorDash has become the undisputed leader in online food delivery, especially in the US. Boasting a staggering 67% market share and processing billions in orders, it has revolutionised the way we get food.
Originally known as PaloAltoDelivery.com, the company’s early days were marked by a hands-on approach. Founders wore many hats, building the app, taking orders, and even making deliveries themselves. This instilled a unique company culture that persists today, with employees getting a taste of the “dasher” experience firsthand.
However, DoorDash’s ambition went far beyond local deliveries. It aimed to build an AI system, aptly named Deep Red, that could optimise every aspect of the delivery process. This focus on efficiency, coupled with aggressive market expansion strategies, propelled DoorDash to the top, surpassing established players like Grubhub and Uber Eats.
Top DoorDash Statistics 2024
- In 2023, DoorDash’s revenue grew by 31% to $8.6 billion. (Statista)
- DoorDash cut its losses from approximately $1.4 billion in 2022 to about $558 million in 2023. (Statista)
- DoorDash briefly turned a profit in 2020, earning $23 million, a period coinciding with the peak of the pandemic. (Ride Share Guy)
- DoorDash had 37 million active users at the end of 2023. (Statista)
- With a 67% share, DoorDash dominated the US food delivery market. (Statista)
- Over 7 million Dashers delivered for DoorDash, earning $15 billion in 2023 by partnering with 550,000 restaurants and stores. (DoorDash)
- DoorDash is the most downloaded food delivery app in the US with an 86% share of global app downloads as of June 2024. (Statista)
Table of Contents
DoorDash Facts and Timeline
Short Timeline from 2012 – 2023
- October 2012: DoorDash was founded under the name Palo Alto Delivery by Evan Charles Moore, Andy Fang, Stanley Tang, and Tony Xu. (Business of Business)
- January 2013: DoorDash made its very first delivery. At this time it didn’t have an app, just a landing page with restaurants around Stanford’s campus and a phone number. (vator.tv)
- March 2013: Palo Alto Delivery raised $120,000 in seed funding. (vator.tv)
- May 2013: The company incorporated in Delaware as DoorDash. (vator.tv)
- June 2020: By 2020, DoorDash raised over $2.5 billion. (vator.tv)
- December 2020: DoorDash went public at $71.3 billion valuation and had raised $3.37 billion in its IPO (initial public offering). (Reuters)
- March 2023: DoorDash had over 34 million users. It’s headquartered in San Fransisco, and Tony Xu is the CEO. (DoorDash)
Interesting Facts about DoorDash
- 2013: In the first year of operations, DoorDash expanded to 70 restaurants in the Bay Area and received $2.4 million in funding. (Business of Apps)
- It grew at a rate of 20% every week. (Y Combinator)
- DoorDash started out operating in 20 cities in the US. Today, it’s available in more than 7,000 cities across multiple countries — over 80 Canadian cities, 4,000 North American cities including Puerto Rico, Japan, Australia (with major cities Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane), and New Zealand (including Wellington, Auckland, Christchurch). (DoorDash, Business of Apps)
- DoorDash-Wolt partnership has expanded their operations to 4 new countries and 500 new cities in just 2 years. (DoorDash)
- As of March 31, 2024, DoorDash and Wolt together operate in over 30 countries globally. (DoorDash)
DoorDash Users, Subscribers & App Downloads 2024
DoorDash accelerated its global expansion in 2023, ranking as the fourth most downloaded food delivery app worldwide with over 26 million downloads. The acquisition of European leader Wolt for over $8 billion in 2022 marked a significant step in this international growth strategy.
- DoorDash had approximately 37 million monthly active users at the end of 2023. This includes users on its main platform and Wolt marketplace. (Statista)
- That’s a 15.6% increase in the number of monthly active users of 32 million in 2022. (Statista)
- DashPass is a monthly subscription offering unlimited free deliveries from thousands of restaurants on DoorDash, available in the US and Canada. Subscribers save an average of $4-5 per eligible order. (DoorDash)
- 18 million customers have signed up for DoorDash’s DashPass subscription, which offers complimentary delivery and order cancellation. (DoorDash)
| Year | Subscribers (in millions) |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 0.8 |
| 2020 | 1.5 |
| 2021 | 10 |
| 2022 | 15 |
| 2023 | 18 |
- DoorDash expanded its subscriber base significantly in 2022 by acquiring European rival Wolt, which offered a similar subscription model called Wolt+. The combined company ended the year with over 15 million paid members, a surge of more than 5 million subscribers compared to the previous year. (Ride Share Guy)
- DoorDash outpaced UberEats in web traffic during April 2024, garnering nearly 60 million global visitors compared to UberEats’ 54 million. (Statista)
- Despite attracting nearly 60 million visitors to its website (doordash.com) in April 2024, DoorDash saw almost 38% of them leave after viewing just one page (Bounce Rate). (Statista)
- DoorDash secured a strong position in the global food delivery landscape in 2023, with its app downloaded over 26.46 million times worldwide. (AppMagic, via Statista)
- The U.S.-based online food delivery company dominated its home market with a substantial 86% share of global app downloads as of June 2024. (Statista)
- DoorDash’s mobile app saw a surge in popularity in early 2020, reaching a peak of around 3.7 million global downloads in April of that year. (Statista)
- The company experienced a more modest download rate in January 2024, with approximately 2.5 million global downloads for its mobile app. (Statista)
DoorDash Financial Aspect
DoorDash rapidly emerged as a dominant player in the U.S. food delivery market, capitalizing on underserved suburban and rural areas. This strategic focus, coupled with significant funding, propelled the company to surpass rivals and achieve a $72 billion valuation within seven years of its founding, despite ongoing losses.
Revenue & Valuation
- In 2023, DoorDash generated approximately $8.6 billion revenue, a 31% increase compared to the previous year’s results. (Statista)
- DoorDash ranked third in the global online food delivery market in 2023, trailing both Delivery Hero and Uber Eats by $2.33 billion and $3.56 billion, respectively. (Statista)
- DoorDash grew rapidly during the pandemic and has continued to increase revenues by double-digit percentages each year, with a staggering 226% increase from 2019 to 2020. (Statista)
- In Q2 2024, Revenue increased 23% year-over-year to $2.6 billion and Net Revenue Margin increased to 13.3% from 13.0% in Q2 2023. (DoorDash)
- DoorDash generated $2.51 billion in revenue during the first quarter of 2024. (DoorDash)
- With 7 million couriers, DoorDash generated over $15 billion annual earnings in 2023. (DoorDash)
| Year | DoorDash Couriers | Annual Earnings |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 6 million | $11 billion |
| 2022 | 6 million | $13 billion |
| 2023 | 7 million | $15 billion |
- DoorDash launched its initial public offering (IPO) in December 2020, valued at $72 billion. (The New York Times)
- Market capitalisation increased by 52.41% from previous year, reaching $50.95 billion as of August 9, 2024. (Stock Analysis)
Funding, Profit & Operating Expenses
Is DoorDash Profitable?
DoorDash continues to grow in valuation, and revenue, without making a profit. The company achieved its only profitable period during the COVID-19 pandemic, when unprecedented demand for food delivery services created a unique revenue opportunity.
On average, DoorDash’s net loss increased by approximately 81.05% year-over-year from 2020 to 2023. This suggests a substantial increase in net loss over the years. While still unprofitable, DoorDash’s net loss contracted substantially in 2023, dropping by around $842 million.
- DoorDash has not made an annual profit since 2019. (Statista)
- In 2022, DoorDash reported a $1.4 billion net loss for the entire year. That’s a significant increase in net losses amounting to $897 million. This marked DoorDash’s first loss of over $1 billion. (Statista)
- After reporting a net loss of roughly $1.4 billion in 2022, DoorDash managed to reduce its losses to approximately $558 million in 2023. (Statista)
- The company achieved its only profitable quarter in Q2 of 2020, earning $23 million, a period coinciding with the peak of the pandemic. (Ride Share Guy)
- DoorDash reported a GAAP net loss of $158 million in Q2 2024, improving from $172 million in the prior year quarter but higher than the $25 million loss in Q1 2024. (DoorDash)
- In the same period, adjusted EBITDA increased to $430 million from $279 million in Q2 2023. (DoorDash)
Funding
- As of July 2024, DoorDash had raised $2.5 billion of investments. (Crunchbase, via Statista)
| Date | Amount Raised | Number of Investors |
|---|---|---|
| June 2020 | $400 million | 3 |
| November 2019 | $100 million | 1 |
| May 2019 | $600 million | 8 |
| February 2019 | $400 million | 9 |
| August 2018 | $250 million | 2 |
| March 2018 | $535 million | 4 |
| March 2016 | $127 million | 6 |
| March 2015 | $40 million | 9 |
| May 2014 | $17.3 million | 5 |
| September 2013 | $2.4 million | 11 |
Operating Expenses
- DoorDash’s operating expenses surged 12.47% to $4.11 billion in 2023, with a hefty $1.88 billion allocated to sales and marketing. (DoorDash)
- The company’s spending continued its upward trajectory, reaching $1.1 billion in operating expenses during the first quarter of 2024. (DoorDash)
| Year | DoorDash Sales and Marketing Expenses |
|---|---|
| 2018 | $135 million |
| 2019 | $594 million |
| 2020 | $957 million |
| 2021 | $1.62 billion |
| 2022 | $1.68 billion |
| 2023 | $1.88 billion |
| Q1 2024 | $504 million |
- DoorDash invested $1 billion in research and development in 2023, followed by an additional $279 million in the first quarter of 2024. (DoorDash)
- General and administrative costs for DoorDash totaled $1.24 billion for the entirety of 2023 and continued with a $319 million expenditure in the initial quarter of the subsequent year. (DoorDash)
DoorDash Market Share in the US
- The food delivery app market expanded by 16.8% in 2023, reaching a total value of $99.1 billion. (Business of Apps)
- With a market share of 67% as of March 2024, DoorDash dominated the online food delivery market in the United States. Uber Eats followed with the second highest share of 23%. (Statista)
| Year | DoorDash | Grubhub | Uber Eats | Postmates |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 5 | 70 | 5 | 3 |
| 2017 | 8 | 50 | 13 | 13 |
| 2018 | 15 | 37 | 24 | 9 |
| 2019 | 30 | 20 | 32 | 11 |
| 2020 | 45 | 18 | 22 | 8 |
| 2021 | 57 | 16 | 26 | |
| 2022 | 65 | 9 | 25 |
- DoorDash’s market share has steadily increased since its 18% share in July 2018. (Second Measure)
| Date | DoorDash US Market Share |
|---|---|
| July 2018 | 18% |
| September 2019 | 35% |
| April 2020 | 45% |
| October 2020 | 48% |
| January 2021 | 53% |
| April 2021 | 56% |
| May 2021 | 57% |
| May 2022 | 59% |
| May 2023 | 65% |
| May 2024 | 67% |
Total Orders & Marketplace GOV (Gross Order Value)
Founded in a Stanford dorm room in 2013, DoorDash has evolved from a food delivery service to a comprehensive platform offering on-demand delivery of groceries, beauty products, and convenience store items, delivering millions of orders and meals across different countries.
- DoorDash reached their first 1 million deliveries in 2015. (Business Insider)
- DoorDash dominates U.S. food delivery with 70% of consumers using the platform in the past year, according to a 2024 survey of 3,269 Americans. Uber Eats follows with 47% usage. (Statista)
- In Q1 2024, Total Orders increased to 620 million, accounting to 21% growth compared to the same quarter of 2023. The surge was primarily driven by increased customer acquisition and engagement. (DoorDash)
- Q2 2024: Total Orders increased 19% year-over-year to 635 million and Marketplace GOV increased 20% year-over-year to $19.7 billion. (DoorDash)
- In 2023, Total Orders completed on DoorDash marketplaces reached 2.16 billion, an increase from the previous year’s order volume of 1.74 billion. (Statista)
- DoorDash average order size was $37.28, only 20 percent spent more than $50. (Rakuten)
| Year | DoorDash Total Orders |
|---|---|
| 2018 | 83 million |
| 2019 | 263 million |
| 2020 | 816 million |
| 2021 | 1.39 billion |
| 2022 | 1.736 billion |
| 2023 | 2.161 billion |
| Q1 2024 | 620 million |
Marketplace GOV (Gross Order Value): DoorDash refers to the total value of completed orders as “marketplace gross order value”. This includes any applicable taxes, tips, membership, and other fees. The company’s 2023 gross order value surged by over 700% to $66.8 billion from pre-pandemic levels of approximately $8 billion. The company’s 2022 acquisition of Wolt contributed significantly to this growth. (Statista)
- In the first quarter of 2024, Marketplace GOV increased to $19.2 billion, or 21% growth compared to the same quarter of 2023, driven primarily by growth in Total Orders. (DoorDash)
- That’s a total of $66.77 billion worth of orders processed on the platform in 2023. (DoorDash)
- DoorDash’s marketplace gross order value tripled from 2020 to 2023, demonstrating rapid growth in platform activity. (DoorDash)
- DoorDash anticipates continued growth in Q3 2024, projecting Marketplace GOV between $19.4 billion and $19.8 billion and Adjusted EBITDA ranging from $470 million to $540 million. (DoorDash)
| Year | DoorDash Marketplace GOV |
|---|---|
| 2018 | $2.81 billion |
| 2019 | $8.04 billion |
| 2020 | $24.66 billion |
| 2021 | $41.94 billion |
| 2022 | $53.41 billion |
| 2023 | $66.77 billion |
| Q1 2024 | $19.24 billion |
DoorDash Riders & Employees
From humble beginnings with its founders serving as the first delivery drivers, DoorDash has grown into a global operation employing over 19,300 people as of the end of 2023. Today, the company offers its delivery couriers flexibility, with over 62% of Dashers working less than 4 hours per week on the app.
- As of December 31, 2023, DoorDash had over 19,300 employees worldwide. (DoorDash)
- That’s an increase of 14.9% from the previous year’s headcount of 16,800 employees. (Statista)
- Over 7 million individuals served as Dashers (delivery couriers) in 2023, collectively earning more than $15 billion. (DoorDash)
- During the 4th quarter of 2022, 62% of dashers spent less than 4 hours per week on the DoorDash app, with a significant portion of this time being inactive. (DoorDash)
- 59% of Dashers indicated that they would spend less time caring for loved ones if flexible work options were unavailable. While over three-quarters (76%) stated that they would reduce household spending without the flexibility offered by dashing. (DoorDash)
- The ability to start and stop dashing at will is crucial for 84% of Dashers. (DoorDash)
- Compared to 2017, the company’s workforce expanded by nearly 1,900%, adding 1.9 million new riders between mid-2020 and early 2021, largely driven by the pandemic as increased food delivery demand coincided with high unemployment rates. (The Columbus Dispatch)
- DoorDash laid off 1,250 employees in November 2022 amid industry-wide challenges, including declining demand and increased competition in the post-pandemic environment. (Statista)
DoorDash Restaurants & Merchants
- DoorDash had 550,000 partnered restaurants and grocery markets on its platform in 2023. (DoorDash)
- Project DASH has delivered more than 6 million orders, equaling to over 100 million meals since they started in 2018. (DoorDash)
| Year | Restaurants |
|---|---|
| 2017 | 59,000 |
| 2018 | 100,000 |
| 2019 | 258,000 |
| 2020 | 340,000 |
| 2021 | 390,000 |
| 2022 | 465,000 |
| 2023 | 550,000 |
What’s Next for DoorDash?
DoorDash has rapidly evolved from a small-scale delivery service into a global platform, expanding its offerings beyond food to groceries, retail, and more.
While the company has achieved significant market dominance, operating in more than 7,000 cities worldwide, sustaining growth and profitability in a competitive landscape remains a key challenge.