Deliveroo reports sales grow 72% to £476m but losses deepen, helps UK restaurant partners boost sales by £1bn, now working with 80,000 globally: Deliveroo has reported sales grew 72% to £476m for the year ending 31 December 2018, compared with £277m the previous year. Gross profit increased 42% to £91m, compared with £64.3m the year before. In 2018, loss before tax increased 16% to £232m, compared with £199m last year, as the company launched in two new markets – Taiwan in September and Kuwait in November – and doubled the number of towns and cities in which it operates. Deliveroo said revenue growth in 2018 outstripped that of the increase in net loss, underlining the company’s growing profit margin. It attributed this to increased order volumes, an enhanced customer offering and continued growth in more mature markets. The company also revealed it now works with circa 80,000 restaurants and 60,000 riders globally. Key investments during the year included the launch of Marketplace+, which enables restaurants with their own delivery fleet to access customers through Deliveroo. This added 7,000 partner restaurants to the platform in six months, 2,000 more than forecast. Deliveroo also invested £10m to become the first company in the on-demand economy to offer free insurance for riders. The company doubled investment in technology to £18m, including creating a “Rooversity”, which gives riders access to hundreds of free online courses. Investment has continued this year, with Deliveroo planning to launch in another 50 towns and cities in the UK in 2019, extending its reach to half the population. The company also acquired software design and development firm Cultivate to create a tech hub in Edinburgh, while it launched a food procurement service to enable restaurants to purchase cooking ingredients at reduced prices. It also extended its perks platform for restaurants to help cut day-to-day costs. Deliveroo said the growth and strength of its business model was reflected by the $575m investment in the company in May, led by Amazon, which took the total raised by Deliveroo to more than $1.5bn. The funding will be used to grow Deliveroo’s technology team, expand reach, develop innovations and increase support for restaurant partners and riders. Analysis by Capital Economics found Deliveroo enabled restaurant partners in the UK to boost sales by £1bn in 2018, including £320m for independent restaurants. The study also found the company has helped create 25,000 jobs in the restaurant sector since it launched in the UK in 2013. Co-founder and chief executive Will Shu said: “Deliveroo is growing from strength to strength and expanding across markets. We’re focused on our mission of becoming the definitive food company and we’ve continued to invest heavily in expansion, technology and new products. We are helping our restaurant partners boost sales and providing more work for riders. Deliveroo has come a long way in the past six years – but this is just the beginning.”