DoorDash, a food delivery giant and one of the biggest in the world, recently announced the acquisition of Symbioys.
Symbiosys is an advertising technology startup founded by a former executive at Google and backed by Fuse, a venture capital firm with roots in Seattle. Venture capitalism is a type of private equity financing that provides capital to startup companies and small businesses with high growth potential, in exchange for equity or ownership in the company.
$75 million worth of acquisition
According to DoorDash’s official report on this, the deal was valued at a whopping $75 million, which will help boost DoorDash’s off-site advertising capabilities, though.
Founded and established in 2022, Symbiosys builds software that help retailers offer and sell off-site advertising promoting products from brands, or ads that appear in places like Google search or Instagram.
This deal with the group will allow the advertisers of the food delivery giant, such as global CPG brands and local restaurants, as well as expand their reach into several digital channels beyond DoorDash’s properties.
Symbiosys has conquered odds and catapulted itself through a growing retail media market, generating substantial advertising revenue for retailers, driven in part by the success of Amazon’s high-margin ad business.
Its previous significant partnerships were with Best Buy.
“We built a platform designed to bring retailers and brands together – enabling collaborative marketing, rich audience targeting, and closed-loop measurement across digital channels,” stated Symbiosys CEO and founder Bashar Kachachi.
Kachachi is based in Seattle. He was a former advertising leader at Google and spent over a decade working on ad-related products at Microsoft.
DoorDash said its ad business last year crossed a $1 billion annualized revenue rate.
Other execs at Symbiosys include John Roswech, the former chief revenue officer at Marchex and HookLogic, as well as engineering leader Dan Cooke, who was previously at Criteo, HookLogic, and WorldQuant.
About DoorDash ads
DoorDash Ads has introduced several new and upcoming features designed to help both restaurants and brands optimize their advertising efforts.
For restaurants, AI-powered tools now simplify campaign creation, targeting, and discounts. Merchants simply provide their goals, targets, and budget, and DoorDash’s AI solutions handle the rest, generating customized campaigns that drive results.
New interest targeting and category share insights on Ads Manager enable restaurants to strengthen their presence in specific food categories, helping them grow their customer base.
Additionally, the new Report Builder allows restaurants to easily monitor marketing spend through detailed reports and custom insights.
At the same time, enhanced financial reconciliation tools offer more granular financial reporting, making it easier to track and manage marketing expenses.
For brands, DoorDash has enhanced Sponsored Brand ads with engaging new creative formats like videos, display images, and product carousels to capture consumer attention.
Brands can now leverage advanced reporting metrics through Ads Manager, including Brand Halo Metrics and Video View Metrics, for deeper performance insights.
Meanwhile, Sponsored Product Ads are also expanding into global search categories such as Alcohol and Retail, increasing visibility for specific products.
Furthermore, DoorDash’s $175 million acquisition of Symbiosys introduces new off-site advertising capabilities. These capabilities enable brands to run integrated campaigns across search, social, and display platforms with closed-loop measurement, driving incremental off-platform sales with improved transparency and control.