Will Shu, who founded Deliveroo in 2013, could stand to gain a payout of more than $500m when the company completes its hotly anticipated IPO, expected as soon as April this year.

Shu currently owns a 6.8% stake in Deliveroo, the company confirmed to Sifted. Deliveroo hit a $7bn valuation earlier in January after raising $180m in its latest round, valuing Shu’s stake at $476m.

Sky News has reported that that they hope for a valuation of as much as £8bn, or $11bn, which would make the stake of Shu, who is a former investment banker, worth $750m. Of course, this could be more if the valuation was higher.

On securing its latest funding round at a $7bn valuation, the company said “the investment comes ahead of a potential Initial Public Offering and reflects strong demand from existing shareholders to invest in the company.” 

It was the first time the company had confirmed its anticipated IPO, after longstanding rumours. It comes amid a spate of IPOs in Europe, with Auto1, Trustpilot and Huuuge Games among those coming up. 

Deliveroo’s other shareholders include Amazon, which owns a 16% stake after leading a $575m round in Deliveroo last year. 

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority cleared the purchase of its stake amid warnings that Deliveroo could collapse after revenues were hit by restaurant closures in the first lockdown.

After initial concerns, however, Deliveroo has gone on to benefit significantly from the consumer shift in spending spurred by the pandemic. Speaking last December, Shu said Covid-19 had accelerated the adoption of food delivery by about three years, with order volumes in the UK now running at double what they were in 2019. 

Shu, who is based in London, founded the company after coming up with the idea whilst working as an investment banker at Morgan Stanley. His personal finances hit the public eye in 2017, after reports he hiked his salary by 22.5% at the same time that the company was experiencing a 300% widening in losses. 

Deliveroo declined to comment on the amount Shu could stand to receive when the company IPOs.

Freya Pratty is Sifted’s news reporter. She tweets from @FPratty