Gopuff aims to improve delivery times with acquisition of rideOS

Gopuff may get food, cleaning supplies and other products to your door faster thanks to its acquisition of rideOS, a San Francisco-based platform that optimizes delivery routes for vehicle fleets. 

Gopuff announced the deal Thursday, saying it will better power multimodal deliveries and improve delivery times as it expands to more dense cities. It also will give Gopuff access to a team of global experts that will optimize its operations and logistics. 

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RideOS, which is led by former Uber, Google and Apple employees, utilizes proprietary mapping and routing technology to determine the fastest delivery routes. 

Gopuff is buying rideOS for $115 million, according to TechCrunch. Earlier this year, the Philadelphia-based company said it had raised $1.5 billion in new funding, increasing its valuation to $8.9 billion. Gopuff did not update its valuation with the new acquisition. 

"RideOS is among the best mapping, dispatching and routing technology firms in the industry and we are thrilled to have them lead innovation in key sectors for Gopuff," said Sharad Sundaresan, senior vice president of product and growth. "This investment will enable Gopuff to continually improve the customer experience in more complex geographies as we lead and define the instant needs category worldwide.”

Gopuff offers delivery service in 650 cities for a flat rate of $1.95. Deliveries generally take 20 to 40 minutes, depending on local conditions. The service is available 24/7 in many cities.

RideOS was created by two founding members of Uber's Advanced Technology Division on mapping and self-driving vehicle technology. The company is hiring senior software engineers, backend engineers, product managers, data scientists and product designers in several cities, including Pittsburgh.

The acquisition comes as Gopuff is preparing to launch its own ad network, Axios reported. The in-house advertising team will create ad networks customized for consumers and marketers based on local inventory — meaning customers will only be shown ads for items in stock. Specifically, they will focus on pushing brands they can deliver within 30 minutes. 

Last month, Gopuff acquired Fancy, an on-demand delivery service that will help the company expand to international markets.