Food-delivery startup Wonder has acquired Tastemade for approximately $90 million, according to sources familiar with the transaction. 

As The Wall Street Journal reports, the acquisition marks Wonder’s strategic move toward creating what it calls a mealtime “super app,” combining delivery services with content production capabilities.

Wonder, founded in 2018 by former Walmart e-commerce head Marc Lore, has shifted from its original model of mobile kitchens in vans to a centralized preparation approach with 38 restaurant locations offering pickup, delivery, and dine-in options. 

The company operates multiple restaurant brands from large central kitchens where dishes are prepared and cooked to order.

The Tastemade acquisition adds a media component to Wonder’s portfolio, which already includes meal-kit brand Blue Apron and food delivery service Grubhub, both acquired in recent years. 

Tastemade brings its established content studio and media platform that has specialized in food and cooking videos since 2012, along with streaming channels featuring travel, home, and design programming. The company has an audience of 160 million followers across social media and 13 million monthly users across streaming channels.

“When you walk around Tastemade, and you see all the monitors on the wall showing all our content, the comment that people make is pretty universal, which is, ‘Now I’m hungry and I want to eat that,'” Larry Fitzgibbon, Tastemade’s co-founder and CEO, said in a statement. “We’re going to be able to magically allow people to eat what they’re seeing on screen.”

An AI-Driven Food Ecosystem

Wonder’s long-term vision involves developing an AI-driven platform that automatically orders personalized meals based on customer preferences and health goals. 

The integration with Tastemade creates new opportunities for viewers to order dishes they see on Tastemade’s channels through Wonder’s various food service platforms.

Fitzgibbon will continue as Tastemade’s CEO while adding the title of “executive vice president of media, advertising, and content” at Wonder. Tastemade co-founder Steven Kydd is also joining Wonder as Tastemade’s president and head of business development and international.

Tastemade, which raised $130 million from investors in its last funding round in 2019, reported nearly $93 million in annual revenue as of July 2024, according to FactSet estimates. The company maintains profitability primarily through advertising sales and custom marketing content for brands.

Wonder has secured $1.6 billion in total funding, including a $350 million round in 2022, which valued the company at $3.5 billion, followed by an additional $700 million raised in March 2024.