Chowdeck, one of Nigeria’s leading on-demand delivery services, has secured USD$2.5 million (approx. NGN3.442 billion, UGX9.54 billion) in seed funding to optimize its operations and support expansion into more cities across the country.
The seed funding round included investment from YCombinator, Goodwater Capital, FounderX Ventures, Hoaq Fund, Levare Ventures, True Culture Funds, and Haleakala Ventures. Co-founders of Rappi; Simon Borrero and Juan Pablo Ortega, co-founders of Paystack; Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi, Sudeep Ramani; founder and CEO of Sportybet, Ayo Arikawe; co-founder of Thrive Agric, and Karthik Ramakrishnan also participated as angels.
Chowdeck is an on-demand delivery service in Nigeria that allows consumers to buy food and deliver it to their doorstep in 30 minutes, on average. The startup has built an effective logistics operation that food vendors can leverage to seamlessly deliver meals to customers while providing consumers with a platform to order meals from restaurants.
In a press statement, Femi Aluko, CEO and co-founder of Chowdeck said, “We know that Nigerians love food, and we just want to make it as easy as possible for them to access the food they desire.” “Chowdeck was birthed to fulfill this purpose and we are committed to delivering truly excellent experiences for our customers, vendors, and riders.”
Aluko noted that they are pleased with the success they have achieved to date and excited to have raised USD$2.5 million (approx. NGN3.442 billion, UGX9.54 billion) in seed funding that will enable them to replicate the success they have achieved in more parts of Nigeria and add value to their customers, vendors, and riders.
Since launching in October 2021 after the COVID-19, Chowdeck has acquired more than 500,000 users and more than 3,000 riders that serve eight Nigerian cities (Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan, Port-Harcourt, Ilorin, Benin City, Abeokuta and Asaba). This new funding will enable Chowdeck to double down on its market leadership in these cities and lay the groundwork for further expansion into other Nigerian cities.
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Shola Akinlade, CEO and co-founder of Paystack said Chowdeck is not only addressing the crucial need for an efficient and reliable on-demand delivery service in Nigeria, but the team embodies innovation and a commitment to excellence.
“It is a privilege to be part of their journey and I look forward to celebrating more success with them in months and years to come,” said Akinlade. “Apart from investing financially into the company, our experience with building Paystack puts us in a great position to provide a lot of practical support and I am excited to see what it is to come from the Chowdeck team.”
June Angelides, Partner at Levare Ventures said Chowdeck has become a household name across Nigeria, priding itself on very high standards of execution. “They are addressing a large and complicated problem, especially in Africa, delivering goods at record speed,” she said. “There’s so much more to come and I’m excited to be with them on the journey.”
Driven by increased smartphone and internet penetration, improved payment systems, evolving consumer preferences, and a range of other factors, Nigeria has grown significantly in on-demand delivery services in recent years. This growth trajectory is poised to continue as many of the challenges that hampered previous attempts at providing on-demand delivery services are fixed.
