This German unicorn tech startup could IPO as soon as next year
Food delivery startup Delivery Hero could go public as soon as next year, its chief executive has revealed.
The German startup, a so-called unicorn valued at more than $1bn, could IPO next year but is in "no hurry" and can wait for the right conditions.
"Whether it will happen next year? It is quite possible," said Niklas Ostberg, speaking to German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, adding "we are in no hurry".
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Backed by the German tech group Rocket Internet, Delivery Hero operates in 33 markets around the world and has a network of more than 300,000 restaurants, while in the UK it owns Hungryhouse, a rival to Just Eat.
According to earlier reports Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup were hired a the start of the year to advise on a listing, however, that has not been forthcoming amid a chill in the tech IPO market.
A fellow German food delivery startup backed by Rocket Internet, HelloFresh, which focuses on delivering freshly prepared ingredients to cook at home, at the end of last year postponed a planned IPO.
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The food delivery space is hotting up with several startups vying for the market.
UK high-end delivery startup Deliveroo landed a huge new multi-million pound round of funding just days ago. The UK's publicly listed Just Eat last week sold of its business in Belgium and the Netherlands to rival Takeaway.com.
Even multi-billion dollar ride-hailing company Uber is muscling in on the territory with the launch of UberEats over the summer.