Fewer than half of the US and European rapid delivery startups launched in the pandemic are still operating; they face huge losses, a funding drought, and more (Tim Bradshaw/Financial Times)

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:
Norwegian grocery delivery startup Oda raised ~$151M from Kinnevik and others at a ~$353M post-money valuation, down from ~$900M in April 2021  —  Online grocery delivery, a booming business at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, has definitely come down to earth with the other shifts we’ve seen …

Tony Lystra / GeekWire:
Seattle-based Swiftly, which offers branded apps and retail software to grocery stores, raised a $100M Series C at a $1B+ valuation after raising $100M in March  —  Retail software provider Swiftly raised $100 million in a Series C funding round, helping the company become the latest Seattle-area startup …

Sabiq Shahidullah / Bloomberg:
Gopuff taps Grubhub to deliver groceries, alcohol, and household items across the US, starting in NYC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, and Austin  —  Grubhub Inc. and Gopuff are teaming up to provide fast delivery of groceries, alcohol and household items.

Nilesh Christopher / Rest of World:
How, in two years, JioMart grew to fulfill 600K grocery deliveries per day in 260 Indian cities, via WhatsApp integration and using Dunzo for last-mile delivery  —  In its first Diwali season, JioMart’s daily sales grew by 2.5 times, with the company managing to shed its grocery-only image.

Tim Bradshaw / Financial Times:
The UK’s FCA plans to investigate Apple, Amazon, Google, and Meta’s moves into retail financial services over competition and consumer harm concerns  —  Financial Conduct Authority says Silicon Valley’s resources might harm competition and disadvantage others

Rafaela Lindeberg / Bloomberg:
Swedish last-mile delivery startups Instabox and Budbee plan to merge and create Instabee, valued at ~$1.66B  —  Swedish last-mile delivery operators Instabox AB and Budbee AB plan to merge to create a new company at a valuation of 18 billion kronor ($1.66 billion), according to an emailed statement.