GrubHub was founded in 2004 by Chicago-based software engineers Matt Maloney and Mike Evans. Frustrated by the lack of delivery information available on the Internet, they created the online service to organize delivery information and make ordering food easier. Visitors to GrubHub.com type in their address, and the results page will display every local restaurant that delivers to them, with the restaurants' menus, available coupons and user reviews. Diners can order directly online, by phone or through the GrubHub iPhone and Android apps.

GrubHub has grown to over 120 employees and is expanding rapidly.

The site is completely free for consumers to use. Restaurants pay commissions on each order processed through the site in order to receive online orders that are supported by GrubHub's 24/7 customer service team. Restaurants that don't partner with GrubHub can still list their telephone numbers and menus for free - a service that GrubHub's competitors don't offer.

A year after winning the University of Chicago New Venture Challenge, GrubHub secured Series A funding in 2007 through Amicus Capital, Origin Ventures and several angel investors, allowing the company to rapidly expand into the top three delivery markets - New York City, San Francisco and Boston. GrubHub secured $2 million in Series B funding in March 2009. The deal was co-led by Origin Ventures and Leo Capital, with earlier investor, Amicus Capital, participating. GrubHub secured $11 million in funding in November 2010. The Series C round of investment was led by Benchmark Capital, the investors behind well-known Internet consumer brands such as OpenTable, Yelp, Zillow and eBay. In its latest round of funding, GrubHub raised $20 million. The Series D round of funding was led by DAG Ventures with Benchmark Capital participating. The company has raised $34 million to date.

GrubHub was also named to Inc. Magazine's prestigious 2010 500 list, which ranks the nation's fastest-growing privately held companies. The company came in at No. 5 in the food and beverage category and No. 229 among the top 500 U.S. companies.
Despite the slowdown in the economy over the last few years, GrubHub has continued to grow. The company sent $85 million in orders to independent restaurants at the end of 2010.

There are more than 300,000 delivery and takeout restaurants in the country. On average, GrubHub diners order out more than ten times a month. According to the National Restaurant Association, carry-out and delivery are the fastest growing segments in the restaurant industry, which is one of the largest sectors of the U.S. economy. With more people searching for restaurants and ordering food on-line and through smartphones, the opportunity for continued growth is substantial.

The rapidly growing company currently services Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., San Diego, Oakland, Seattle, Portland, Denver and Boulder, with plans to double its footprint, expanding into more than 26 cities by 2011.

For more information, visit www.GrubHub.com.