Wolt CEO and Slush chair Marianne Vikkula on building a superapp, leadership lessons and Slush’s secret sauce

2026-04-24 · Source: Sifted · Field: Business & Management — Corporate Strategy & Leadership, Entrepreneurship & Start-ups, Operations & Process Management · Depth: Fundamental Awareness, long

Summary

Marianne Vikkula, CEO of Wolt and Chair of Slush, discussed Wolt's evolution into a "superapp" and its strategic focus on local commerce beyond restaurant delivery, including groceries, medicine, and electronics. Wolt, acquired by DoorDash in May 2022, is expanding its merchant tools, offering services like revenue-based financing, and exploring autonomous logistics with robot testing in Finland. The company is also forging micromobility partnerships, such as with Dott, to enhance its subscription loyalty program across 30 markets. Vikkula emphasized maintaining a startup mentality despite Wolt's scale, fostering internal talent growth, and benchmarking all job vacancies externally to ensure high standards. She also highlighted Slush's non-profit, student-driven model and its shift from prioritizing scale to relevancy, aiming to support European entrepreneurship.

Key takeaway

For startup founders and executives building platform businesses, your focus should be on deepening existing services and enhancing customer loyalty rather than constantly adding new, disparate use cases. Continuously benchmark your talent against external markets and empower internal growth to maintain velocity. This approach helps sustain a competitive edge and adapt to evolving consumer expectations, even as your company scales.

Key insights

Wolt's strategy involves expanding local commerce, leveraging subscriptions, and maintaining a startup culture through talent development and external benchmarking.

Principles

• Obsess about the customer.
• Consumer expectations only go up.
• Focus on relevancy, not just scale.

Method

Wolt expands its superapp by building merchant tools, offering revenue-based financing, exploring autonomous logistics (drones, robots), and forming micromobility partnerships to enhance its subscription loyalty program.

In practice

• Test delivery robots in challenging climates first.
• Benchmark all job roles internally and externally.
• Prioritize "two-way door" decisions for rapid iteration.

Topics

• Wolt Superapp Strategy
• Autonomous Delivery
• Micromobility Partnerships
• Slush Startup Conference
• Entrepreneurship Ecosystem

Best for: Investor, Executive, Entrepreneur, Product Manager

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Editorial summary, takeaway, and curation by AIssential. Original article published by Sifted.