← Back to the club

Flink

Quick-commerce / grocery deliveryGermany
New to Unitard
βœ‚οΈ Markdown
PeakΒ $2.85 BillionToday
~-68%
from peak
  1. πŸ¦„
    Became a unicorn
    2021
  2. πŸ“ˆ
    Peak valuation
    $2.85 Billion ’21
  3. πŸ’”
    Became a Unitard
    Mar 2026
  4. πŸ’Έ
    Last valuation
    ~$912M
Current status
Operating across Germany and the Netherlands; a Prosus-led ~$100M round priced it at about $900M post-money (Mar 2026)

The rise & fall

6 moments Β· 2020–2026

The key moments.

2020
Founded in Berlin
Oliver Merkel, Christoph Cordes and Julian Dames start Flink for minutes-fast grocery delivery.
TechCrunch
Dec 2021
$750M Series B led by DoorDash at $2.85B$2.85B
The round lands near the top of the instant-grocery bubble.
TechCrunch
2023
Rivals collapse; Flink retrenches
As Gorillas and Getir fade, Flink pulls back to Germany and the Netherlands and chases density.
Sifted
Mar 2026
Prosus round prices it at ~$900M$900M
A ~$100M growth round led by Prosus values Flink around $900M, ~68% below the peak.
Sifted

How it happened

Flink is a Berlin quick-commerce grocery startup that Oliver Merkel, Christoph Cordes and Julian Dames founded in 2020, promising delivery from local dark stores in minutes. A $750M Series B led by DoorDash in December 2021 valued it at $2.85B, near the top of the instant-grocery bubble.

As rivals Gorillas and Getir collapsed or retreated, Flink survived by pulling back to Germany and the Netherlands and chasing store-level profitability. The valuation reset hard anyway: a $150M round in September 2024 priced it below $1B, and in March 2026 a roughly $100M growth round led by Prosus, with BAT's Btomorrow Ventures, valued it at about $900M post-money, around 68% below the peak while the company kept operating.

Flink's Glassdoor reviews, heavily from riders and order-pickers, centered on low pay, too few shifts and weak local management, the familiar strains of a gig quick-commerce workforce.

Employee accounts paraphrase anonymous, unverified reviews posted publicly on Glassdoor β†—. See our methodology.

Source: TechCrunch (Dec 9, 2021): $750M Series B led by DoorDash at a $2.1B pre / $2.85B post-money, with Mubadala participating. Sifted / Bloomberg (via Dealroom, Mar 20, 2026): a ~$100M round led by Prosus and BAT's Btomorrow Ventures at ~$900M post-money (the $900M per people familiar, not company-disclosed). Reuters / Sifted: a $150M round in Sept 2024 priced below $1B. Peak keyed to the Dec-2021 DoorDash round; the drop to the priced Mar-2026 round. Founded 2020 by Oliver Merkel, Christoph Cordes and Julian Dames.

Founders

  • Julian Dames
    co-founder & CEO
    Still there β€” Co-Founder & MDLinkedIn β†—
  • Oliver Merkel
    co-founder (CEO through 2024)
    LinkedIn β†—
  • Christoph Cordes
    co-founder
    Still there β€” Co-Founder & MDLinkedIn β†—

Current roles as self-reported on LinkedIn, retrieved 2026-10-13. See our methodology.

Disclosed investors (17)

Historical funding participation; lists may be incomplete and do not establish current ownership or investor losses.

* Lead in a funding round Β· Crunchbase β†— Β· 2026-10-23 Β· Methodology Β· Leaderboard

πŸ¦„