History of DoorDash in Timeline

DoorDash is a leading American online food ordering and delivery company, publicly traded under the symbol DASH. It dominates the US market with a 56% share in food delivery and 60% in convenience delivery. As of late 2020, DoorDash connected 450,000 merchants with 20 million consumers through a network of over one million delivery couriers.

January 2013: Launch of PaloAltoDelivery.com

In January 2013, Tony Xu, Stanley Tang, and Andy Fang, Stanford University students, launched PaloAltoDelivery.com in Palo Alto, California.

June 2013: Incorporation as DoorDash

In June 2013, PaloAltoDelivery.com incorporated as DoorDash.

2015: Launched in Toronto, Canada

In 2015, DoorDash began expanding into international markets with its launch in Toronto, Canada.

April 14, 2016: Lawsuit Alleging Monopolistic Power damages

In April 14, 2016, the lawsuit against DoorDash, along with Grubhub, Postmates, and Uber Eats, seeks damages for overcharges since this date.

2017: Class-Action Lawsuit Filed

In 2017, a class-action lawsuit was filed against DoorDash for allegedly misclassifying delivery drivers in California and Massachusetts as independent contractors.

April 5, 2018: Data Breach Unaffected

On April 5, 2018, those who joined the platform after this date were unaffected by the data breach.

December 2018: Overtook Uber Eats

In December 2018, DoorDash overtook Uber Eats to hold the second position in total US food delivery sales, behind GrubHub.

2018: Chowbotics valuation

In 2018, Chowbotics was valued at $46 million.

2018: Project DASH Launched

In 2018, DoorDash launched Project DASH, a partnership with local food security organizations to deliver donations to those in need.

2018: Start of Walmart Partnership

In 2018, DoorDash started a partnership with Walmart

March 2019: Exceeded GrubHub in Sales

By March 2019, DoorDash had exceeded GrubHub in total sales, capturing 27.6% of the on-demand delivery market.

May 4, 2019: Data Breach Confirmed

On May 4, 2019, DoorDash confirmed that 4.9 million customers, delivery workers, and merchants had sensitive information stolen in a data breach. Those who joined the platform after April 5, 2018, were unaffected.

July 2019: Criticism of Tipping Policy

In July 2019, DoorDash's tipping policy was criticized for using customer tips to cover the guaranteed minimum payment to drivers, with drivers only receiving the portion of the tip exceeding the minimum.

August 2019: Project DASH Expansion

By August 2019, Project DASH had expanded to 25 cities in the United States and Canada and had delivered more than one million pounds of food.

August 2019: Acquired Scotty Labs

In August 2019, DoorDash acquired Scotty Labs, a tele-operations startup specializing in self-driving and remote-controlled vehicle technology.

October 2019: Acquired Caviar

In October 2019, DoorDash acquired Caviar, a service specializing in food delivery from upscale urban-area restaurants, from Square, Inc. for $410 million.

October 2019: First Ghost Kitchen

In October 2019, DoorDash opened its first ghost kitchen, named DoorDash Kitchen, in Redwood City, California, hosting four restaurants.

October 2019: Class-Action Lawsuit Filed for Data Breach

In October 2019, a class-action lawsuit was filed against DoorDash following the data breach announced in May 2019.

2019: Expanded Internationally

In 2019, DoorDash began operating in markets outside North America, officially launching in Melbourne, Australia, in September and expanding further into the country.

January 2020: Reports of Tip Skimming

In January 2020, it was reported that DoorDash had lied about skimming tips from its drivers, causing them to earn an average of $1.45 an hour after expenses, and that after the company had allegedly overhauled its tipping system, DoorDash was still manipulating per-delivery payouts at the expense of drivers.

April 2020: Lawsuit Alleging Monopolistic Power

In April 2020, DoorDash, along with Grubhub, Postmates, and Uber Eats, was accused of monopolistic power in the case of Davitashvili v. GrubHub Inc. for allegedly requiring restaurants to maintain price parity between dine-in and delivery customers. The lawsuit seeks damages for overcharges since April 14, 2016.

June 2020: Funding Raised

By June 2020, DoorDash had raised more than $2.5 billion through various financing rounds from investors including Y Combinator, Charles River Ventures, SV Angel, Khosla Ventures, Sequoia Capital, SoftBank Group, GIC, and Kleiner Perkins.

August 2020: Added Grocery Delivery

In August 2020, DoorDash expanded its service offerings to include grocery delivery, initially in California and the Midwest.

August 2020: Tipping Policy Lawsuit

In August 2020, a DoorDash customer filed a class action lawsuit against the company for its "materially false and misleading" tipping policy. The case was referred to arbitration. Under pressure, the company revised its policy.

November 2020: First Physical Restaurant Location

In November 2020, DoorDash announced the opening of its first physical restaurant location, partnering with Bay Area restaurant Burma Bites to offer delivery and pick-up orders.

December 9, 2020: Initial Public Offering

On December 9, 2020, DoorDash became a public company through an initial public offering, raising $3.37 billion.

2020: Partnership with National Urban League

In 2020, DoorDash partnered with the National Urban League as part of its Main Street Strong program, pledging $200 million over five years, with $12 million to support drivers of color in building job skills and financial literacy.

December 31, 2020: Platform Usage Statistics

As of December 31, 2020, DoorDash's platform statistics included 450,000 merchants, 20 million consumers, and over one million delivery couriers.

February 8, 2021: Acquisition of Chowbotics

On February 8, 2021, DoorDash announced its acquisition of Chowbotics, a robotics company known for its salad-making robot.

May 2021: Unauthorized Restaurant Listings

In May 2021, DoorDash faced criticism for unauthorized listings of restaurants, with Lona's Lil Eats suing the company in St. Louis for listing them without permission and redirecting customers to other restaurants.

July 2021: Driver Strike

In July 2021, DoorDash drivers went on strike to protest lack of tip transparency and to ask for higher pay. The company also rewrote its code to cut off access to Para, a third-party app that drivers had been using to see the full tip amounts.

August 2021: Lawsuit from the City of Chicago

In August 2021, the city of Chicago sued DoorDash and GrubHub for allegedly using "unfair and deceptive tactics" against restaurants and consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

September 2021: Project DASH Operation

As of September 2021, Project DASH operated in more than 900 cities and had delivered more than 15 million meals.

November 9, 2021: Acquisition of Wolt

On November 9, 2021, DoorDash announced its acquisition of the Finnish technology company Wolt for over $8.1 billion.

2021: Expanded Service Area

In 2021, DoorDash expanded its service area to Sendai, Japan in June and Stuttgart, Germany, in November.

June 2022: Tip Transparency Issues

As of June 2022, DoorDash did not allow drivers to see the full tip amounts prior to accepting a delivery in the app. If customers tip over a set amount for the order total, Doordash hides a portion of the tip until the delivery is complete.

June 2022: Expanded into the Wellington Region of New Zealand

In June 2022, DoorDash expanded into the Wellington Region of New Zealand.

August 2022: End of Walmart Partnership

In August 2022, DoorDash announced the end of its partnership with Walmart in September, concluding a cooperation agreement that had been in place since 2018.

November 2022: Corporate Layoffs

In late November 2022, DoorDash announced plans to lay off 1,250 corporate employees, approximately six percent of its workforce, in an effort to reduce expenses.

2022: Partnership with Meals on Wheels

In 2022, DoorDash partnered with Meals on Wheels to help deliver food to senior citizens.

2022: Tentative Settlement Reached

In 2022, a tentative settlement was reached in the 2017 class-action lawsuit. DoorDash agreed to pay $100 million, with $61 million allocated to over 900,000 drivers (approximately $130 per driver) and $28 million for lawyers.

June 2023: Hourly Minimum Wage Option for Drivers

In June 2023, DoorDash announced that it would offer its drivers the option of earning an hourly minimum wage instead of being paid per delivery, though drivers are only paid hourly during active deliveries.

August 2023: Obligation to Pay Drivers and Seattle

In August 2023, DoorDash was obligated to pay its drivers and the city of Seattle a total of $1.6 million for making it difficult for users to request paid time off. It involves $1.1 million towards safe and sick time credits, $500k directly to drivers and an additional $8,500 in city fees.

September 2023: Stock Listing Transfer

In September 2023, DoorDash transferred its stock listing from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq.

December 18, 2023: Addition to Nasdaq-100 Index

On December 18, 2023, DoorDash was added to the Nasdaq-100 index.

February 2024: Penalty for Illegally Selling Data

In February 2024, DoorDash was obligated to pay a $375,000 civil penalty for illegally selling personal data. They also had to begin complying with privacy laws like CCPA and CalOPPA.

2024: International Operations

As of the end of 2024, DoorDash and its European subsidiary Wolt had operations in 32 countries outside the United States.

2024: Fortune 500 Debut

In 2024, DoorDash debuted on the Fortune 500 list, ranking at #443.

March 2025: Partnership with Klarna

In March 2025, DoorDash announced a partnership with Klarna, a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) service, allowing customers to schedule small payments over time. The decision received criticism due to concerns about increasing household debt.

April 2025: Initial Offer to Acquire Deliveroo

In April 2025, DoorDash made an initial offer to acquire Deliveroo, a UK-based food delivery company, for £2.7 billion($3.6 billion).

May 2025: Acquisition of Deliveroo and SevenRooms

In May 2025, DoorDash announced it had acquired Deliveroo for $3.9 billion. Also in May 2025, DoorDash announced the $1.2 billion all-cash acquisition of restaurant booking platform SevenRooms.

2025: Settlement for Misleading Tipping Practices

In 2025, DoorDash agreed to pay around $17 million for "misleading both consumers and delivery workers" with tips being docked from drivers' pay instead of directly going to drivers.

2025: Acquisition of Deliveroo

In 2025, DoorDash will acquire the UK-based delivery service Deliveroo for $3.88 billion. The combined company will operate in 40 countries and serve 50 million users monthly.