Daki's bet: 15-minute groceries only pay off after the unicorn shrinks

Daki is a Brazilian quick-commerce company founded in early 2021 that delivers supermarket goods from its own distribution centers and urban stores, originally within 15 minutes. Since 2024 it has also sold through the iFood and Uber apps, and it now focuses on the São Paulo and Belo Horizonte metropolitan areas.

That speed alone wins groceries: blanket cities with dark stores, promise 15-minute delivery, and let growth outrun network cost until profit arrives.

Daki was founded in Brazil in early 2021 by Rafael Vasto, Alex Bretzner and Rodrigo Maroja, during the pandemic, promising supermarket delivery in at most 15 minutes with the money back if it failed. New York-based quick-commerce group JOKR bought Daki in June 2021 to expand in Latin America, and by December 2021, ten months after founding, Daki was valued at US$1.2 billion - the region's youngest unicorn - with about 60 dark stores.

Expansion then met the market's turn: after euphoria faded, a late-2023 round valued Daki at about US$800 million, nearly 40% below its peak, and investors pressed for a route to profit. Daki closed its Rio de Janeiro network, cut from roughly 70 dark stores to 50, concentrated on the São Paulo metro area and Belo Horizonte, ended free delivery and its all-bike promise, and stretched delivery windows to 20-25 minutes. In February 2024 iFood shut its own quick-commerce vertical and made Daki its delivery partner; in September 2024 Daki signed a similar deal with Uber. The company promised breakeven by the end of 2024.

By May 2026 Daki said it had reached breakeven - its first positive EBITDA since launching - with about R$1 billion in annualized revenue, growth above 50% a year, three large distribution centers and 40 urban centers concentrated in the São Paulo and Belo Horizonte metros. iFood bought a minority stake of under 5%, and CEO Rafael Vasto said Daki would announce entry into new Brazilian regions by the end of 2026, arguing digital grocery still holds a single-digit share of a market worth more than R$1 trillion.

Speed was a real wedge in 2021: 15-minute grocery delivery with a money-back promise was novel enough to pull orders online while incumbents were slow.

The network race assumed growth would outrun cost; when capital got expensive, dark-store density became a liability instead of a moat.

Survival came from shrinking to profitable density - two metros, fewer stores, no free delivery - and from renting distribution through iFood and Uber instead of buying it.

Reaching breakeven on about R$1 billion of annualized revenue showed the demand was real; the question was always the cost per order.

A speed promise can buy attention but not unit economics: Daki only reached breakeven after it cut cities, closed dark stores, dropped free delivery and plugged into iFood and Uber for demand.

As of May 2026 Daki is private, profitable and expanding again: it reported breakeven - its first positive EBITDA since the 2021 launch - on roughly R$1 billion of annualized revenue growing more than 50% a year, with three distribution centers and 40 urban centers focused on São Paulo and Belo Horizonte. iFood holds a minority stake of under 5% and the operational partnership begun in 2024; Vasto said Daki would announce new Brazilian regions by end-2026, betting digital grocery can keep growing inside a market worth over R$1 trillion where online holds a single-digit share.