For those among us not already satisfied by DoorDash, Instacart, UberEats, Food Rocket, GoPuff, Good Eggs, Farmstead and other competitors — there’s a new venture-backed delivery startup circling around the Bay Area promising to bring basic grocery staples to your doorstep “faster than 911.”
That’s the tagline of Popcorn, founded and headquartered in San Francisco last year, seen on its growing fleet of delivery vans that function for it like the dark store networks of quick commerce competitors, the aim being to bring the economics of last-mile logistics one step closer toward profitability. In addition, Popcorn advertises its service as available 24/7 (and is searching to hire more personnel on the graveyard shift), making it possible to order chips, milk and other convenience store sundries at 3 a.m. to your heart’s content.
Popcorn’s two founders are Onur Kardesler, who also co-founded Wallept and gig-economy-meets-digital-advertising startup Firefly, and Ece Cokar, a former managing partner of a Turkish law firm and the co-founder of a youth program at Istanbul’s Museum of Modern Art. Both of them, through Cokar, declined requests for interviews.
The founders are being guided by Matt Barnard, the co-founder and longtime CEO (now executive chairperson) of indoor farming startup Plenty. Barnard lists himself on LinkedIn as a strategic adviser to Popcorn’s executive team and the C-suites of a few other young startups.
Popcorn appears to have launched last August, according to the founders’ LinkedIn profiles, and its corporate headquarters is on Lucerne Street in the South of Market neighborhood. Their website shows a delivery service area comprising San Francisco and a stretch along the Peninsula between San Carlos (through Redwood City, Palo Alto and Mountain View) and Sunnyvale.
A Popcorn delivery driver told me last week that the company is planning to essentially double its fleet of vans soon, adding another 40, to expand delivery areas into San Jose and the East Bay, including Hayward. According to its website, customers can order from a selection of more than 1500 products via the Popcorn smartphone app.
The startup has been attracting attention on Twitter from Bryant Barr, managing partner at Penny Jar Capital — the early-stage venture capital firm anchored by Stephen Curry, who is one of the companies 60-odd followers and twice tweeted praise about the companies deliveries. Curry himself is a huge fan of and something of an expert on actual popcorn. Penny Jar did not respond to a request for comment on Friday asking if they have invested in Popcorn, but I'll update this story if I hear back.
According to PitchBook, Popcorn raised an undisclosed amount last year from at least two backers, NFX and BoxGroup, neither of which were immediately available for comment on Monday.
BoxGroup, based in New York City, tends to seek out minority stakes in early stage startups with funding amounts between $250,000 to $750,000, per PitchBook, and recognizable past bets include Plaid, Airtable, (etc etc). Meanwhile NFX, headquartered in San Francisco, tends to invest in early stage or seed rounds, typically between $500,000 to $5 million, also according to PitchBook.
Toronto-based venture capital firm GroundBreak Ventures is Popcorn’s latest investor, per a LinkedIn post on Monday from a member of the investment team. They summed up their thinking as “Delivery 3.0 will change the way you think about your local grocery store. On demand. Virtually instant. Dynamic pricing. Dynamic promotions.”
A majority of the company’s 52 listed employees appear to be, like the founders, from or still based in Turkey. Secil Ceker, Popcorn’s head of resources according to LinkedIn, for instance, is based in Istanbul.
Though the startup doesn’t offer alcohol like competitors GoPuff, DoorDash and Instacart do, Popcorn may be wading into that territory eventually. It applied for a limited license for selling wine off-premises last fall, according to public records, but withdrew that application two months later.
