Ultra-fast grocery delivery service Getir acquires rival Gorillas

Consolidation in the ultra-fast grocery delivery sector continued Friday, as Turkish rapid delivery service Getir acquired Berlin-based Gorillas.

Terms of the long-rumored deal were not disclosed, but Gorillas was reportedly valued at $1.2 billion.

“The super-fast grocery delivery industry will steadily grow for many years to come, and Getir will lead this category it created seven years ago,” Getir founder Nazim Salur said in a statement.

Founded in 2015, Getir bills itself as the “world’s first ultra-fast grocery delivery service.” The company also said it became Europe’s first grocery delivery “decacorn,” or a privately held company valued at more than $10 billion, earlier this year.

Getir didn’t make its U.S. debut until November 2021, launching its 10-minute delivery service in Chicago. It has since added delivery in New York and Boston, offering more than 1,500 products such as snacks, drinks and fresh produce. Getir promises “absolutely no substitutions,” with a delivery inventory that’s updated in real time.

In June, Getir nabbed $550 million in a Series D funding round.

Upstart rival Gorillas was founded in May 2020. Little more than a year later, Gorillas had raised more than $330 million in two funding rounds. In the U.S., Gorillas only delivers in New York City. It operates in a half-dozen European countries.

Both Gorillas and Getir announced layoffs in May, with Getir planning to lay off 14% of its global workforce and Gorillas parting ways with 300 employees.

Ultra-fast grocery, also known as “ghost grocers,” have had a rollercoaster ride in recent years.  

The on-demand platforms, offering delivery of grocery essentials in as little as 10 minutes, became the Next Big Things in the early days of the pandemic and into 2021, when many shoppers were nervous to risk a quick run to the store.

Many of them raked in millions in private-equity funding, only to quickly burn through the cash and go under.

One such company, Jokr, had a $1.2 billion valuation by the end of 2021. Just a few months later, though, the e-tailer shut down its U.S. operations. Ultra-fast player Fridge No More shuttered last year.

Ghost grocer Buyk filed for bankruptcy protection in March and offered up a fire sale of all of its assets, as well as its name and website, in October.

At that time, Buyk, which launched in New York City and Chicago in 2021, said most of its physical assets were “brand new and unused” after being purchased for the retailer’s 39 stores.

“This offering from Buyk is an exciting opportunity for established delivery providers expanding into ultra-fast delivery or for retailers wanting to break into the rapidly growing delivery market,” Brad Goldsmith of Sherwood Partners, Buyk’s financial advisor, said in a statement at the time. “Acquiring this IP, established technology and robust enterprise system is a fast-track to market entry or expansion.”