Showing no slowdown from 2017 when it acquired 17 local restaurant delivery companies, Bite Squad added service to 100 U.S. cities with another 100 planned for the rest of the year.
By the end of the year, the company expects to be in 400 cities across 22 states. Founder and CEO Kian Salehi said the company is targeting underserved areas
Unlike other gig-economy deliver companies, Bite Squad drivers are internal, W-2 drivers (compared with 1099 gig economy drivers). The Minneapolis-based company says employing its 5,000 drivers allows for benefits like driver retention, quality control and customer satisfaction.
Postmates Building Nashville Hub
After opening a customer service hub in the Nashville market last year, San Francisco-based Postmates has expanded its Tennessee office to more than 277 people, according to a report in the Nashville Business Journal.
In the news story, Postmates’ Senior Director of Communications April Conyers said the jump in headcount was largely based on an increase in sales account management and customer support positions. Conyers added that Postmates expects to continue adding new positions in Nashville, largely in the same departments.
DoorDash
In the wake of a $535 million investment from SoftBank, DoorDash’s plans for the epic windfall are beginning to drop. While speaking at Fortune magazine’s Brainstorm Tech Conference in Aspen, Colorado, DoorDash CEO Tony Xu said DoorDash plans to add as many as 600 new cities by the end of 2018. That’s up from the 1,200 cities DoorDash currently serves in the U.S. and Canada.
“We have a long ways ahead in terms of serving the millions of restaurants out there,” Xu said at the event. “We’re just getting started—food is a fantastic category.”
