William Shu and Greg Orlowski: Deliveroo

William Shu and Greg Orlowski, 34 and 35
Company: Deliveroo (Roofoods Ltd)
Web: www.deliveroo.co.uk

Many restaurants would relish the chance to boost their sales through a takeaway service, but are put off by the prohibitive logistics involved – hiring drivers, setting up an ordering system and dealing with customer orders on the phone and online can represent a significant drain on time and resources. Following Just Eat’s recent IPO, the food delivery market is clearly a lucrative one and with Just Eat not really catering for high-end restaurants, there was a potential gap in the market. Enter William Shu and Greg Orlowski’s tech start-up Deliveroo. The platform works as a managed delivery platform for high-end restaurants, as well as providing a fleet of drivers, creating a technological solution for a previously manual problem – in return for a commission on sales.

It is a model the restaurant industry has evidently been crying out for, based on its impressive multi-million pound run rate and growing list of high-profile clients, which include London mainstays Carluccio’s and Gourmet Burger Kitchen. And it’s not just restaurants who are excited by Deliveroo’s concept – investors led by Index Ventures backed the business with £2.75m in June of this year, allowing the entrepreneurial duo to set their sights on further UK expansion (its currently only available in London) and international expansion just over a year after launch.