Chowdeck, a Lagos-based food delivery startup, remains profitable in the infamous, difficult and low margin market, raising Series A funding to expand to more cities in Nigeria and Ghana.
The equity round was led by Novastar Ventures with participation from Y Combinator, AAIC Investment, Rebel Fund, GFR Fund, Kaleo, Hoaq and others. Investors are betting on the team’s ability to implement local market expertise and turn the infamous, challenging sector into profitable super apps for food, groceries and essentials.
“We’re looking forward to seeing you in the future,” said CEO and co-founder Femi Aluko. “This funding can supercharge our growth plans, expand into more cities, reduce delivery times, expand our grocery footprint, and attract the best talent to promote innovation and customer satisfaction.”
Founded in October 2021 by Aluko, Olumide Ojo and Lanre Yusuf, Chowdeck is currently operating in 11 cities in Nigeria and Ghana, serving 1.5 million customers with a network of over 20,000 riders. Its logistics system averages 30 minutes per order, and in densely populated areas, more than half of delivery arrives by bike.
While prominent players have terminated or reduced their African business, Chowdeck has built local meals to build trust with its customers and relied on the complexity of the local market, an operational challenge.
In 2024, the value of meals served through butterfly decks increased by more than six times the previous year. This year, the company says it has passed a total of 2024 by July.
The new funding will help Chowdeck deploy ultra-fast delivery, backed by a network of Quick Commerce, Dark Store and Hyperlocal Logistics Hubs. The company is expected to open 40 dark stores by the end of this year and 500 by the end of 2026, with two to three new stores coming out weekly. Chowdeck raised a $2.5 million seed round last year.
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Food delivery is a globally crowded business, but hopefully it has led to other large companies like Doordash.
Quickcommerce, meanwhile, was a capital-intensive gamble in most markets. In Europe, gorillas and Getir burned hundreds of millions of dollars before retreating or consolidating. In India, platforms like Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy have achieved various levels of success in their models when it comes to profitability.
Chowdeck has made profits even before this pay raise, and Aluko says the company won’t go into the city or vertical without planning to break even within weeks.
For example, in May this year, a food delivery platform entered nearby Ghana. Within three months, we processed 1,000 orders every day without paid ads. This came from the excitement demand for services that, according to Aluko, serve local favourites along with international cuisine. The company aims to set the volume to 5,000 orders daily by the end of September 2025.
According to Aluko, Chowdeck will apply the same playbook to the Dark Store, complementing its restaurant and grocery delivery operations.
Another vertical operation that complements these operations is software. In June this year, the YC-backed startup acquired Mira, the point of sale provider for the African food and hospitality business. Mira’s tools manage inventory and orders in real time. Now, Chowdeck helps optimize the business and position the company as a vertical SaaS-Logistics provider for restaurants.
Chowdeck’s pay raise is a victory for local players in the sector after Jumia leaves market share to foreign brands such as Grobo, Bolt Food and Yango. However, some of these companies have also withdrawn from certain markets, including Nigeria and Ghana.
Super apps such as Gozem, YC-Backed Yassir and Mnt-Halan are other local companies offering food delivery services in other African markets.
“The market is still very early,” Arco said. “For the first time, customer behavior is shifting online. An entire generation is growing ordering food without walking to some of the restaurants and markets on our platform.”
For leading investor Novastar Ventures, betting lies in execution and local insights. “Butterfly decks are building the future of logistics for African cities,” said partner Brian Waswani Odianbo. “Deep local insights, a sustainability-first approach and impressive implementation are redefineing last mile delivery on the continent.”
