Chowbus, a food-delivery app for local Asian restaurants and grocery stores, carefully curates its ... [+]
Chowbus isn't your typical food-delivery platform. The company has carved a niche in the marketplace, specifically connecting diners with Asian food from “mom and pop” restaurants and stores. And a recent funding round – the company announced a $33 million Series A last week – will allow the startup to expand its services to even more North American cities.
The round, led by Silicon Valley-based Altos Ventures and New York City-based Left Lane Capital, with additional participation by Hyde Park Angels, Fika Ventures, FJ Labs and Silicon Valley Bank, comes on the heels of a period of significant growth for Chowbus. In the past year, the company has increased its revenue 700 percent and grown its employee headcount 300 percent. The startup was founded in 2016 by Suyu Zhang and Linxin Wen, who saw a void in the market and wanted to connect people with authentic Asian food not easily found on traditional third-party delivery apps.
The company carefully curates its partners – local, authentic Chinese and Asian restaurants and stores; and no chains – and its delivery service offers a unique “bundling” feature that allows users to select dishes from multiple restaurants in a single delivery with no added fee.
"Chowbus is proud to empower independent Asian restaurants and grocery stores across North America," Wen said. “When we say we’re true partners to the restaurants we work with, we mean it. By eliminating hidden fees, helping them showcase their best dishes and other efforts we make on their behalf, we really go the extra mile to help our restaurant partners succeed. We only succeed if they do.”
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Chowbus is headquartered in Chicago, and the app is available in over 20 cities in North America, including New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Los Angeles and Seattle. At last count, it boasted more than 500,000 users.
Chowbus is available in over 20 cities in North America.
The company will use the new funding to grow its existing business, launch its platform in new cities and expand its product line. Chowbus is pressing forward with new services that go beyond delivery – like its recently released “dine-in” function, which allows diners to order and pay from their phone for a contactless experience at their favorite restaurant.
“The market is experiencing a permanent shift from offline to online ordering, a trend that Chowbus is actively driving,” said Harley Miller, managing partner at Left Lane Capital. “Focusing on this large and loyal constituency with a vertical-approach to supporting Asian restaurants and food purveyors has allowed Chowbus to differentiate itself on both sides of the marketplace. The capital efficiency with which they have operated, relative to the scale achieved, is extraordinarily impressive and not something we often see.”
To date, Chowbus has raised $38 million, including funds from two earlier seed rounds. The company, in February, was listed among the largest and fastest-growing consumer-facing marketplaces in the U.S. by Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm in Silicon Valley. Chowbus ranked No. 78 on The a16z Marketplace 100, one of only 13 in the Midwest to make the cut, including seven from Chicago.
In addition to the raise, the company also added two key leaders: former Chief Operating Officer of Jump Bikes and one of Uber’s first 50 employees, Kenny Tsai, as COO; and former Groupon product leader Jieying Zheng as head of product.
