SkipTheDishes was founded in 2012 by brothers Josh and Chris Simair. At the time, Chris was living in Saskatchewan, Canada and working at Cameco Corporation as an IT Solutions Architect and Josh was living in London, UK and working with RBC as an Investment Banker. Each day, Josh and his colleagues worked long hours and often ordered food to their office from local restaurants. Josh began to recognize that there was an opportunity to help other working professionals gain time in their days by building out a more efficient online food orderingdelivery network. Eventually, both resigned from their jobs and began working on the concept for SkipTheDishes. They launched the network in their home city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and eventually moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba to set up the tech company’s head office.
Founders
Between 2012 and 2014, three additional co-founders joined to help grow the startup. Another brother, Daniel Simair, joined, along with two friends from university - Jeff Adamson and Andrew Chau.
Investment
During the first few years of operations, the co-founders bootstrapped the company and raised a small round of seed capital from angel investors. Shortly after, the co-founders raised additional capital from private investors, as well as four prominent venture capital firms - Golden Venture Partners, Founder Collective, Felicis Ventures, and FJ Labs.
In December 2016, SkipTheDishes was acquired by Just Eat for $200M. SkipTheDishes remained a subsidiary and separate brand from Just Eat, with its Canadian headquarters to stay in Winnipeg. As of September 2018, Just Eat Canada redirects to SkipTheDishes.
Growth and Expansion
Over the course of 2017, SkipTheDishes was recognized for its growth on a number of occasions. The company's founder was chosen as one of Canada's Top 40 Under 40. Just Eat's CEO, Peter Plumb, reported significant increases in the company's Q3 - 2017 revenue, due to "strong growth in order numbers and the inclusion of SkipTheDishes business". In 2017, the company expanded its business model into new offerings other than food, starting with alcohol delivery in select markets. In March 2019, SkipTheDishes pulled out of the United States market. Their business and drivers were transferred to Grubhub. In early 2020, Just Eat merged with Netherlands-based competitor Takeaway.com, forming Just Eat Takeaway, shortly thereafter announcing a deal to acquire the aforementioned Grubhub. In July 2020, in line with Just Eat's other markets, SkipTheDishes adopted Takeaway.com's logo and orange colour scheme, though keeping the SkipTheDishes brand name.
Technology
SkipTheDishes' technology allows customers to order food online. Customers order through the SkipTheDishes website or mobile iOS and Android apps. They can pay for their orders online with a credit card or debit card, or in person with cash when their orders arrive. Restaurants receive orders on their integrated mobile apps, and couriers are allocated to orders through their integrated mobile apps. Customers can view the status of their orders through live updates on the app, and are given transparency into the location of their assigned courier through GPS tracking. Restaurants and couriers can be reviewed by customers after they have received their orders. This helps to provide both feedback and transparency to the rest of the network about the efficiency and effectiveness of its stakeholders. SkipTheDishes operates across Canada and formerly operated in select markets in the United States. Since its founding in 2012, SkipTheDishes continues to advance the technological innovation required for building the future of food delivery, while being instrumental in helping to create a tech hub in the Canadian Prairies.
Criticism
Like many companies involved in the sharing economy, SkipTheDishes has received criticism for its business practices. In March 2017, the company received negative publicity for its responses to a job candidate's question about compensation and benefits. As a follow up to the incident, Emily Norgang of the Canadian Labour Congress stated that "the most innovative aspect isn't the technology itself, but actually the expansion of this exploitative business model". As of May 2020, SkipTheDishes has the lowest rating of F from the Better Business Bureau due to volume of unresolved complaints.
