DoorDash Sees Opportunities With German Grocery Deliverer Flink After Investment

Ivan Levingston, Bloomberg News

A DoorDash Inc. delivery person holds an insulated bag at Chef Geoff's restaurant in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, March 26, 2020. As the wheels of government turn too slowly for small businesses desperate for a piece of the $2 trillion U.S. relief package due to the coronavirus pandemic, restaurateur Geoff Tracy is using GoFundMe to raise money for 150 hourly workers at his American comfort food standby Chef Geoff's and other restaurants. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- DoorDash Inc. sees the potential for a relationship beyond its financial investment in German rapid grocery firm Flink SE, after the U.S.-market leading food delivery company provided financing to the startup earlier this year.

“We tend to not make investments. Typically we usually do it if we believe that there might be a commercial relationship or something strategic that is maybe cemented or solidified by an investment,” DoorDash’s Chief Executive Officer Tony Xu said in an interview on the sidelines of the Slush tech conference in Helsinki. “Stay tuned.”

San Francisco-based DoorDash was set to invest in Flink -- which promises to deliver groceries to its customer within 10 minutes -- at a $2.1 billion valuation, Bloomberg News previously reported.

“It’s really how do we do something that actually best serves the audience in Germany. And if there’s a way to help one another in doing that in that market that’d be great,” Xu said, without elaborating on how potential partnerships could operate.

The news of DoorDash’s Flink investment came just weeks before the company’s 7-billion euro ($7.9 billion) deal to buy Finnish food delivery company Wolt Enterprises Oy and accelerate its international expansion.

Read more: DoorDash said to lead round in Flink at $2.1 billion value