Marc Lore’s Wonder Acquires Tastemade to Build an Advertising Business
Food-delivery service Wonder is adding digital media to its menu with its acquisition of independent media company Tastemade.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but the deal reportedly cost $90 million, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The integration of Tastemade will enable Wonder to provide more curated and personalized digital experiences for consumers of its family of brands. Wonder founder and CEO Marc Lore is a former Walmart ecommerce exec who wants Wonder to be an API-drive app for ordering personalized meals. Wonder has raised $1.6 billion since its founding in 2018.
Wonder also owns meal kit company Blue Apron and food-delivery service Grubhub, which launched an ad business last year.
The goal of the acquisition is to create a retail media business on top of Wonder’s retail and delivery operations. Wonder’s offering would theoretically compete with Uber Eats, DoorDash, GoPuff, and other ad businesses run by delivery services.
Wonder said it will combine Tastemade’s brand storytelling capabilities and digital audience—consisting of 160 million social followers and 13 million monthly viewers of its streaming channels—with its first-party data to create an advertising and media business.
Tastemade cofounder and CEO Larry Fitzgibbon will join Wonder as evp of media, advertising, and content. Tastemade cofounder and president Steven Kydd will become head of business development and international, and the Tastemade team will report to Wonder chief growth and marketing officer Daniel Shlossman.
Fitzgibbon told The Journal in an interview that “a handful” of Tastemade’s 80 employees will be laid off as part of the transition.
“This acquisition represents an incredible opportunity for both Tastemade and Wonder to leverage our strengths and elevate our storytelling and retail capabilities to new heights,” Fitzgibbon said in a statement. “Together, we will build a platform that seamlessly merges the joy of watching with the convenience of having dinner delivered right to the door.”
Social video pioneer
Tastemade was an early pioneer in social video, making food videos for Meta, TikTok, and Snap. The publisher was also early to streaming with subscription and distribution deals with the likes of Tubi, Amazon, and Sling TV.
