Postmates Is Raising More Venture Capital, Seven Months After Announcing IPO Plans

(Bloomberg) -- Postmates Inc. said it’s raising $225 million in private capital Thursday, seven months after announcing a plan to take the company public. The move suggests technology companies are seeing more enthusiasm from private investors than from those in the public markets.

The San Francisco-based company, which makes a food-delivery app, will see its valuation increase after the new financing to $2.4 billion, from $1.85 billion in January, said a person familiar with the deal, who asked not to be identified because the details are private. The lead investor of the round, GPI Capital, will get a board seat, Postmates said.

Postmates lags DoorDash Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. among the most-used apps to order food in the U.S. Uber held the biggest IPO of the year in May, but the stock is down 25% from the offering price. This week, WeWork’s parent company postponed its IPO after an icy reception from Wall Street.

Meanwhile, venture capital hasn’t cooled. Also on Thursday, Stripe Inc. said it raised new funds at a $35 billion valuation, making the payments company the third-most-valuable tech startup in the U.S. The new funding for Postmates was reported earlier Thursday by Forbes.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ellen Huet in San Francisco at ehuet4@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Mark Milian at mmilian@bloomberg.net, Anne VanderMey

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