A Nigerian on-demand delivery startup, Chowdeck, has secured $2.5 million in seed money, which it plans to utilise to fortify its position in the country’s market.
The startup’s Co-founder and CEO Femi Aluko, confirmed the funding in a media release on Tuesday.
A number of investors took part in the investment round, including YCombinator, Goodwater Capital, FounderX Ventures, True Culture Funds, Hoaq Fund, Levare Ventures, and Haleakala Ventures.
The funding also saw participation from other angel investors like Ayo Arikawe, Co-founder and CTO of Thrive Agric; Shola Akinlade, Co-founder and CEO of Paystack; Ezra Olubi, Co-founder and CTO of Paystack; Sudeep Ramani, Founder of Sportybet; Karthik Ramakrishnan (Amazon); Simon Borrero and Juan Pablo Ortega, co-founders of Rappi.
Chowdeck was founded in 2021 by former Paystack developers Femi Aluko, Olumide Ojo, and Lanre Yusuf, a design engineer and Aluko’s undergraduate flatmate. This was shortly after the Covid-19 pandemic, which sped up the expansion of internet purchasing globally.
Newsng gathered that the startup inked exclusive contracts with Chicken Republic, the biggest QSR brand in Nigeria, and then added Shoprite the following year.
These agreements have strengthened the startup’s position in the Nigerian market and helped it acquire more consumers.
Before the end of 2024, it intends to expand its services to more Nigerian cities with new investment.
“We know that Nigerians love good food, and we just want to make it as easy as possible for them to access the food they desire. Chowdeck was birthed to fulfil this purpose, and we are committed to delivering truly excellent experiences for our customers, vendors, and riders,” Aluko said in a statement.
Aluko claimed that more than 3,000 motorcyclists have joined the network since its debut, and it now boasts over 500,000 members. We earlier reported that Madica, an African structured investment programme targeting pre-seed stage entrepreneurs, revealed its plans to invest in up to 10 ventures by the end of the year, ramping up its funding efforts after closing three initial deals.
