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DoorDash

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  • Type: Local-commerce and food-delivery marketplace (includes Caviar). Public company (IPO on the NYSE, December 9, 2020; now Nasdaq: DASH).
  • Legal entity: DoorDash, Inc. (Delaware C-corp, headquartered in San Francisco).
  • Founded: 2013, as "Palo Alto Delivery," by Tony Xu, Stanley Tang, Andy Fang, and Evan Moore.
  • CEO: Tony Xu (co-founder), throughout the pandemic and today.
  • Role in the pandemic-relief story: DoorDash was too large for PPP, but it sat between two populations: independent-contractor Dashers and small-business restaurants. Its pandemic support ran to both: commission relief and grants for restaurants (we have copies of the releases), sick-pay assistance and PPE for Dashers (company statements; we do not have copies).

Pandemic-role map

  • Reader shorthand: delivery platform and restaurant-support channel, not a lender.
  • What DoorDash did for merchants: commission relief, Storefront/online-ordering tools, grants, accelerator programs, and a BlueVine PPP path for a small set of restaurants.
  • What DoorDash did for Dashers: internal sick-pay assistance, PPE/safety measures, and hardship support; Dashers accessed public PUA/PPP individually.
  • What DoorDash sold to other companies: delivery, marketplace, logistics, restaurant software, and merchant distribution, not KYC or government relief infrastructure.

Before the pandemic (2013–early 2020)

DoorDash entered 2020 still private and growing fast. Its Form S-1 of November 13, 2020 put its share of U.S. food-delivery orders, by dollar value, at 50% as of October 31, 2020. Like Uber and Lyft, it classified its workers as independent contractors; unlike them, its other constituency was restaurants.

During the pandemic (March 2020 – 2022)

DoorDash's revenue rose from $885 million in 2019 to $2,886 million in 2020. It said it earns "a substantial majority" of its revenue from Marketplace orders and "the related commissions charged to partner merchants and fees charged to consumers." Commission relief for restaurants was a cut in its own price.

Restaurants: the commission cut, then the price caps

On March 17, 2020, DoorDash waived commissions for 30 days for independent restaurants that signed up and dropped the commission on pickup orders for existing partners: "This is not a deferral of fees, nor will merchants be asked to pay anything back." On April 10 it announced a 50% commission cut for local restaurants from April 13 to the end of May, and called it "an estimated $100M injection" for "more than 150,000" restaurants. The IPO prospectus later put the number at "approximately 180,000" restaurants with five or fewer locations. On May 28, DoorDash said its relief programs, ending May 31, "have helped restaurants save approximately $120 million since mid-March." The prospectus describes that month this way: "we shifted our focus from merchant relief to supporting the growth of merchants." What followed was DoorDash Online Ordering, later Storefront, which the company called "our commission-free online ordering system." Set-up, subscription and merchant delivery fees were waived for restaurants with five or fewer locations, first through 2020 and then, after an October extension, to March 31, 2021.

Cities then set the price themselves. DoorDash operated under temporary price controls on delivery commissions in 32 jurisdictions at the end of September 2020, 73 at the end of December and 108 at the peak. Its February 2021 shareholder letter gave its response: "we have begun implementing incremental consumer fees in many markets with price controls." It estimated the net cost of the controls to its revenue at $36 million, $31 million, $26 million and $23 million in the four quarters to September 2021. Those four estimates add up to $116 million. DoorDash sued San Francisco and New York over their permanent price controls, which its 2021 10-K calls unconstitutional. The same 10-K reports that the City of Chicago "has challenged such fees as confusing and/or misleading to consumers"; that is the city's allegation.

Grants, PPP and the pledge

In October 2020 DoorDash offered $2 million in cold-weather grants of $5,000 each to restaurants with three or fewer locations in six cities. On November 12 it announced a five-year, $200 million Main Street Strong Pledge and raised the grant program to $10 million. It announced the details of the expanded grants, administered by Hello Alice, on January 27, 2021. The S-1, filed the day after the pledge, said IPO proceeds might fund it. On February 23, 2021, DoorDash announced the Main Street Strong Accelerator, a $2 million fund for 100 restaurateurs in five cities, each receiving a $20,000 grant (paid as two $10,000 installments) plus eight weeks of training. The program targeted women-, immigrant-, and BIPOC-owned businesses, with partner Accion Opportunity Fund.

From mid-April 2020 DoorDash partnered with BlueVine to route restaurants to PPP loans. On July 28, 2020 it said nearly 200 of its merchants had received over $6 million, which "will impact over 1,200 workers." The same post said: "DoorDash is donating its small proceeds from this program." The post does not say what those proceeds were. In January 2021 DoorDash extended the partnership to First Draw and Second Draw applicants. That was a merchant-facing route into PPP comparable to the Uber–Kabbage driver funnel.

DoorDash itself deferred the employer share of Social Security taxes from April 1 to December 31, 2020, under the CARES Act; its 10-K gives no amount. The SBA's loan data lists 60 PPP loans, about $374,000 in all, to borrowers whose names contain "DoorDash" or "Door Dash." The largest is $27,082. Fifty-nine report one job and one reports two. DoorDash, Inc. reported 3,886 employees at the end of 2020.

Dashers

DoorDash said on March 17, 2020 that it was providing financial assistance to Dashers "diagnosed with COVID-19 or quarantined" and shipping "more than 1 million sets" of free hand sanitizer and gloves. The S-1 put the assistance at two weeks.

Communities

On April 16, 2020, DoorDash expanded Project DASH, its last-mile hunger-relief program, partnering with United Way Worldwide / 211 and reporting more than 150,000 meals delivered in the first three weeks, plus a New York City Department of Education partnership to reach medically fragile children (Project DASH COVID expansion, April 16, 2020).

The IPO and Proposition 22

DoorDash filed its S-1 on November 13, 2020 and went public December 9, 2020, selling 33,000,000 shares at $102 for net proceeds of $3.3 billion. The S-1 reported sharp pandemic-driven order growth and warned that "the circumstances that have accelerated the growth of our business stemming from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic may not continue." Like its peers, DoorDash helped fund California's Proposition 22, which kept Dashers classified as contractors and passed November 3, 2020 (Ballotpedia reports its contribution at roughly $52 million).

Relief donations, policy spending and CEO pay in 2020

For 2020, DoorDash reported $7 million in COVID-19 relief donations and $57 million in "expenses related to supporting various policy matters, including those related to worker classification and price controls." Tony Xu's reported 2020 compensation was $413,669,920. Of that, $413,369,623 was the grant-date fair value of a 10,379,000-share stock award that vests only if he stays and the stock meets set price goals. The proxy says it is "possible that Mr. Xu will realize zero compensation from this award."

Hiring, then the cut

DoorDash had 2,600 full-time employees at the end of 2019, 3,886 employees at the end of 2020 and over 8,600 at the end of 2021. On November 30, 2022, it committed to eliminating about 1,250 positions, "approximately 7%" of its workforce. It estimated the charges at $85 million and recognized $82 million in 2022. Xu's email to staff: "Prior to COVID-19, DoorDash was actually undersized as a company." On the hiring that followed: "we were not as rigorous as we should have been in managing our team growth. That's on me." California's WARN report lists 311 DoorDash layoffs in San Francisco County and 75 in Los Angeles County, effective March 1, 2023. The state's WARN reports for July 2019 through June 2022 list no DoorDash notice.

After the pandemic (2021–present)

DoorDash pushed beyond restaurants into grocery, convenience and retail after the emergency (company filings).

Current posture (as of mid-2026)

We found no DoorDash corporate PPP loan and no PPP-fraud finding against DoorDash.

Sources

Primary documents in this archive

  • 50% commission reduction + $0 pickup: reduces commission-50pct local restaurants 2020-04-10
  • "Announcing Main Street Strong" (Storefront, $0-commission online ordering): announcing main street strong 2020-05-28
  • Winter relief grants expansion (Hello Alice; BlueVine PPP partnership): expanding main street strong winter grants 2021-01-27
  • Main Street Strong Accelerator ($2M; $20k grants; Accion Opportunity Fund): main street strong accelerator-2m fund 2021-02-23
  • DASH COVID expansion (United Way / 211; 150k meals): expanding project dash vulnerable communities 2020-04-16
  • "Reopen for Delivery" (delivery-kitchen program): reopen for delivery 2020-10-26

Filings, company posts and public records

External references

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