image: Cornershop

Uber has announced it’s agreed to acquire a majority stake in Cornershop, a grocery delivery startup that serves the Latin American market. Cornershop may sound familiar, as Walmart actually entered a deal to acquire it last year (for $225 million) but saw its proposed deal later blocked by Mexican antitrust regulators. With Walmart’s proposed acquisition in limbo, it appears Uber swooped in to scoop up Cornershop, for an undisclosed sum. Uber’s acquisition is expected to close by early next year, subject to regulatory approval.

Cornershop was founded in 2015, and grew to be a leading online grocery provider in Chile and Mexico. The Chile-based startup also recently launched in Peru and Toronto, Canada. According to Crunchbase data, Cornershop has raised some $32 million in total funding, including a $6.7 million Series A in April 2016. Jackson Square Ventures and ALLVP led the Series A, with participation from the likes of Accel, Endeavor Catalyst and Creandum. A year after the Series A, Cornershop raised a further $21 million in funding from Accel and Creandum.

After Uber’s acquisition, Cornershop will continue to operate under its current leadership, who would in turn report to a board represented majorly by Uber. “In 2015 we started Cornershop with primarily the Latin American market in mind and we couldn’t be more excited to work with Uber to help us take that mission much further,” Cornershop co-founder and CEO Oskar Hjertonsson said in a statement. “Uber is the perfect partner as we embark on our quest to bring our unique flavor of on-demand groceries from incredible retail partners to many more countries around the world.”

“Whether it’s getting a ride, ordering food from your favorite restaurant, or soon, getting groceries delivered, we want Uber to be the operating system for your everyday life,” Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi added. “We’re excited to partner with the team at Cornershop to scale their vision, and look forward to working with them to bring grocery delivery to millions of consumers on the Uber platform.” He said.

Cornershop CEO Oskar Hjertonsson image: Paloma Baytelman on Flickr

With Cornershop’s acquisition, Uber will be officially entering into the grocery delivery market, a highly competitive one. With slowing revenue growth and mounting losses, it’s no surprise that Uber is looking to expand into further markets. Not long ago, the ride-hailing company launched “Uber Works”, an on-demand staffing app matches shift-workers with temporary jobs across a number of industries. Uber also recently launched Uber Pet, a new feature that lets riders move with their pets without risking cancellation by the driver for a fee. Such moves indicate Uber is trying to diversify its revenue and get into more markets to maintain growth, and also address its much-talked about profitability issue.

Acquiring Cornershop could also help Uber increase revenue from the Latin American region, after a 24% dip in Q2 2019.