TOKYO: US food delivery firm DoorDash Inc, which is backed by SoftBank Group Corp, announced the launch of services in Japan on Wednesday, joining an increasingly crowded market that has grown during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Services will be initially limited to the city of Sendai in Miyagi prefecture, the money losing delivery firm told reporters, in a step that follows expansion to Canada and Australia.

SoftBank already backs some of the largest delivery services in Japan, such as Uber Eats from Uber Technologies Inc and Demae-can Co Ltd.