Turkish ultrafast grocery delivery app now valued at $2.6 billion with $300 million in fresh funds

Istanbul-headquartered ultrafast grocery delivery startup Getir has become a unicorn, tripling its valuation to $2.6 billion in less than two months with a $300 million Series C that’s co-led by Sequoia Capital and returning investor Tiger Global. With this valuation, Getir is now the most valuable startup in the Middle East, North Africa, Turkey & Pakistan. It is the second Turkish startup to have achieved unicorn status. Peak Games that was acquired by Zynga for $1.8 billion was the first one from Turkey to raise (exit) at over a billion-dollar-valuation.

Getir’s latest round follows a $128 million Series B that came at a valuation of $850 million in January earlier this year. Around the same time, the Turkish startup also kicked off its international expansion by launching in London. With the latest funds, Getir now plans to expand into three more European markets including Germany, France, and the Netherlands. It also has plans to launch in Brazil once the Covid-19 situation there is under control.

Founded in 2015, Getir claims to have pioneered the concept of ultrafast (10-minute) grocery delivery using its network of dark stores and riders but this space has become highlight competitive within the last twelve months with many European startups raising substantially large rounds. The list includes Berlin-headquartered Gorillas and Flink, UK-based Dija and Weezy, and France’s Cajoo. Ten-month-old Gorillas raised $290 million at a valuation of over $1 billion earlier a day before Getir announced its round.

It is not clear how these different apps would differentiate themselves for the customer if they’re operating in the same geographies with the promise of offering 10-15 minute delivery. In its home market where Getir also delivers food in addition to groceries, its biggest competitor is Delivery Hero that operates Yemeksepeti for food and grocery delivery.

Nazim Salur, the founder and CEO of Getir, commenting on the investment, said, “We began in 2015 with the vision to disrupt how people get their groceries. Every month, we deliver a variety of 1,500 products to millions of people in Turkey in an average of 10 minutes. Thanks to the interest in our groundbreaking business model, we had the opportunity to finalize a Series C round only two months after our Series B. We have now raised $300mn and will use the investment for our ambitious European expansion. We are glad to announce that we have become the fastest Turkish unicorn.”