Business Expanding DoorDash, the largest on-demand food delivery service company in the U.S., establishes a Japanese subsidiary

Jul 29, 2021

DoorDashExternal site: a new window will open. is an on-demand food delivery service company founded in 2013 in San Francisco, U.S. The company is the industry leader in the U.S., and operates in more than 4,000 cities in the U.S., Canada, and Australia. It has been funded by prominent VCs such as Sequoia Capital, KPCB, Khosla Ventures, and Y Combinator, as well as the SoftBank Vision Fund launched by the SoftBank Group. In December 2020, the company made an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Establishment
2021/01
Destination
Tokyo , Sendai city

  • ICT
  • Service
  • USA

Users can order not only food but also daily necessities from merchants for takeout or delivery through a dedicated app. In addition, the company develops a software called "Storefront", an ordering and delivery system that merchants can implement in their own apps and websites. With this system, merchants can easily start accepting orders online regardless of the size of the store or the specifications of their current app or website, thus adding a new sales channel. They can also manage their order history themselves, which leads to effective marketing activities based on data insights about their website visitors.

In January 2021, it established DoorDash Technologies Japan Ltd. (DoorDash Japan) in Tokyo with the aim of developing services in Japan. In June, they launched their service in Sendai City as its first location in Japan. This is the third overseas expansion outside of the U.S., following Canada and Australia, and the first in Asia. Sendai was chosen as the first location to begin its business because “it is a large city with a population of over 1 million, with a sufficient market size. It also has a good balance between urban and suburban areas," explains Ryoma Yamamoto, Country Manager of DoorDash Japan.

DoorDash Deliverer (Dasher)

Upon establishing its Japanese base, JETRO's Invest Japan Business Support Center (IBSC) provided information and consultations (registration, visa, tax, and labor), and introduced service providers (tax accountants, labor and social security attorneys, and interpreters).

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