Grubhub founder quits four months after Just Eat deal

The founder of US food delivery platform Grubhub has quit the business just four months after it was bought by UK-listed rival Just Eat Takeaway.

Matt Maloney joined the Just Eat Takeaway board in June but has since stepped down to “pursue other opportunities”, the company said.

Just Eat boss Jitse Groen said: “Great entrepreneurs like Matt start businesses that touch the lives of millions of people.

“He has built a magnificent company and helped create hundreds of thousands of jobs across the US. We are sorry to see him leave the company and wish him the best in his future endeavours.”

Mr Maloney did not comment.

His company, Grubhub, was bought by Just Eat for around £5.8 billion to make Just Eat the biggest food delivery platform outside China.

It has 244,000 restaurants on its platform with 588 million orders placed last year.

Grubhub had previously been courted by Uber, but it failed due to competition scrutiny.

Mr Groen said at the time that the importance to the deal’s success was his long-standing relationship with Mr Maloney.

He said: “Matt and I are the two remaining food delivery veterans in the sector, having started our respective businesses at the turn of the century, albeit on two different continents.

“Both of us have a firm belief that only businesses with high quality and profitable growth will sustain in our sector.”

Mr Maloney said last year when the deal was announced: “Combining the companies that started it all will mean that two trailblazing start-ups have become a clear global leader.

“We share a focus on a hybrid model that places extra value on volume at independent restaurants, driving profitable growth.

“Supported by Just Eat Takeaway.com, we intend to accelerate our mission to be the fastest, best and most rewarding way to order food from your favourite local restaurants in North America and around the world. We could not be more excited.”