The news: DoorDash is teaming up with Wonder, the food company that aims to build a so-called “super app for mealtime” that also owns DoorDash rival Grubhub. DoorDash is investing $125 million in Wonder’s Series D funding round while agreeing to pay another $300 million to acquire Grubhub Campus Dining, formerly Tapingo.

Zooming in: The deal creates strange bedfellows. Grubhub recently struck a grocery delivery deal with Instacart to better compete with DoorDash, even as its parent company is now taking an investment from DoorDash.

But follow the money and the rationale becomes clearer. DoorDash is paying more than twice as much for Campus Dining as it is investing in Wonder.

• Campus Dining operates across more than 450 colleges and universities, giving DoorDash proven technology that it has already signaled it plans to expand into stadiums, hotels, and other venues where consumers repeatedly order within closed ecosystems.
• If DoorDash can insert itself into those routines, it has an opportunity to build relationships with consumers that extend into its broader delivery business.

For Wonder, the deal provides capital while potentially freeing resources for areas where it can differentiate. A day before announcing the DoorDash deal, Wonder unveiled Infinite Makeline, a robotic bowl assembly system that it says can produce up to 500 bowls per hour across cuisines ranging from Mexican and Greek to salads and poke.