Akihabara News (Tokyo) – DoorDash, an online food ordering and delivery company based in San Francisco, has just launched in Japan.
The US firm has chosen Japan as its first Asian expansion country with the backing of the SoftBank Group.
Japan is DoorDash’s fourth nation overall as the company has previously launched internationally in Australia and Canada.
DoorDash CEO and Cofounder Tony Xu claims that his firm’s services will help “empower local economies” in Japan.
Founded in 2013, DoorDash is currently the largest food delivery company in the United States, while Japan has become dominated by UberEats in the same sector.
The coronavirus pandemic has helped fuel the growing popularity of online food delivery services.
Using the DoorDash app, consumers can order food directly from participating restaurants and have it delivered to their doorstep, much like UberEats.
These services will initially be limited to the city of Sendai in Miyagi Prefecture, but expansion to other regions is expected later in the year.