Nov 5 (Reuters) - Wonder Group, a food-delivery startup led by former Walmart executive Marc Lore, said on Thursday it had confidentially filed for a US IPO, laying the groundwork for a stock market listing as it prepares to expand its network, including through drone deliveries.
Confidential filings allow companies to keep their finances private until closer to the initial public offering.
New York-based Wonder is among a handful of companies pressing ahead with listing plans even as choppy markets and rising borrowing costs slow down IPO activity.
Wonder operates food halls that resemble pandemic-era "ghost kitchens," preparing dishes from dozens of restaurant brands. Earlier this year, it said it would launch drone deliveries in Texas in January 2027 through a partnership with San Francisco-based Zipline, which raised $1.5 billion on Thursday.
While bigger rivals Amazon and DoorDash are also expanding their delivery networks with drones, concerns over noise and privacy, alongside regulatory hurdles, remain obstacles to their broader adoption.
Founded in April 2018, Wonder has expanded through acquisitions, buying Grubhub for $650 million in 2025, meal-kit company Blue Apron for $103 million in 2023 and kitchen-robotics company Spyce from Sweetgreen for $186 million in 2025.
In July, it raised $650 million at a pre-money valuation of $9 billion in a funding round that saw participation from Accel, GV, AllianceBernstein and ARK Invest.
The number of shares to be offered and the price range for the proposed IPO have not yet been determined, Wonder said.
(Reporting by Arasu Kannagi Basil and Pragyan Kalita in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Jonathan Ananda)