The food delivery market still has some treasures

Online food delivery services are feeling the crunch, as volatile markets, the dearth of willing workers and the more mobile consumer have upended the gains they enjoyed at the beginning of the pandemic.

Why it matters: Yet where there are losers, there are also winners, and investors are still taking their pick of the crop, albeit more selectively than they had before, Axios reports.

Driving the news: A signal that there are still bullish bets to be made comes from Rohlik, a Prague-based online grocery delivery startup, that raised €220 million in a Series D round, TechCrunch reports.

• New investor Sofina is joining the fold, alongside existing ones, such as Index Ventures and CEO Tomáš Čupr.

State of play: “This round seems to indicate that there is still a thesis being played out where investors believe that a handful of companies will emerge out of the wider field as the winners.” – Ingrid Lunden, TechCrunch

Yes, but: This investment comes in stark contrast to what we’re seeing among its peers.

• U.S. delivery platform Instacart confidentially filed for its IPO last month and that could be up in the air.
• Other European players, such as Getir and Gorillas, have started cutting staff or frozen hiring, like Deliveroo.
• Meanwhile, food delivery company JOKR said it was pulling out of the U.S. and leaving the New York and Boston markets as of June 19 to focus on Latin America, TechCrunch reports.