This CEO wants to take on DoorDash and Uber Eats using their own delivery workers

Noah Glass, the CEO and founder of Olo Restaurant software company, is attempting to challenge industry giants DoorDash and Uber Eats with their newly launched app. The app operates similarly to restaurant ordering platforms, such as Shopify, which provides backend services to online sellers. However, Olo aims to attract consumers directly to their platform.

The app charges the same menu prices customers receive when ordering in-store, offering potential savings of 15% to 30% as third-party delivery services often mark up prices. Glass, the Olo CEO, believes that the app can save both restaurants and customers time and money by selecting the best delivery option from among multiple services.

Olo doesn't have its own delivery drivers; instead, it relies on 27 delivery services, including DoorDash, Grubhub, and Uber, to deliver from around 800 restaurant brands. When a delivery order arrives, Olo determines which drivers are available and calculates the delivery costs across these services. The app then charges customers the same menu prices as those who order in-store, potentially saving them between 15% and 30%.

The food delivery market is becoming increasingly competitive, with DoorDash recently acquiring Instacart to expand its food delivery capabilities. Walmart is also entering the arena by sending its delivery workers to pick up restaurant meals alongside grocery deliveries. Rising food costs are causing customers to cut back on dining out or opt for lower-priced meal deals, making Olo's promise of eliminating menu markups for restaurant delivery more appealing.

Olo already has millions of customers, handling ordering for numerous restaurants through their own apps and websites. Approximately 40 million customers have created Olo accounts through these restaurants. The new app consolidates food ordering from multiple restaurants, allowing customers to place orders on any of the brands that use Olo as their login mechanism.

Olo's app supports both delivery and pickup orders, with the majority of its approximately 3.5 million daily orders being takeout. The company was publicly traded until its acquisition by private equity firm Thoma Bravo in 2025. Additionally, Olo is developing a protocol to accept orders from AI agents, which could become a significant wave of orders in the future. Glass believes that Olo's price advantage could attract AI agents as they decide which app to place their orders on.