What Uber Tells Us About a Postmates IPO

Should Uber’s rocky initial public offering spoil the appetite of investors for Postmates, the meal delivery business expected to go public in the coming months?

Uber, of course, is primarily a ride-hailing business, but the company’s Uber Eats meal delivery unit is its fastest growing segment, accounting for 13% of total revenue last year. Postmates, which filed confidential IPO paperwork with securities regulators in February, is also seeing strong growth, bringing in roughly $400 million in revenue in 2018, a figure that could double this year, according to a person familiar with the business. Private investors are bullish enough on the category that a rival, DoorDash, is seeking to raise new funding at a valuation as high as $12 billion, a huge jump from a few months ago.