Chowdeck

Chowdeck is a technology-powered, on-demand delivery platform focused on connecting consumers with restaurants, grocery stores, and pharmacies in Africa. Founded in October 2021 by Femi Aluko (CEO), Olumide Ojo (CTO), and Lanre Yusuf (COO), the company emerged from Aluko's personal experience with the difficulty of food delivery during a COVID-19 lockdown. The founding team possesses a strong technical background, with both Aluko and Ojo having served as principal engineers at African fintech company Paystack, and Yusuf as an engineering lead at Crown Interactive.

The company operates a three-sided marketplace connecting customers, vendors, and delivery riders through a mobile app available on Android and iOS. Chowdeck's core service is food delivery, but it has expanded into delivering groceries and medicine, aiming to become a leading super app in Africa. The platform is designed to provide a seamless ordering process with real-time tracking and an average delivery time of 30 minutes. For its restaurant and retail partners, Chowdeck offers logistics, inventory management, payment processing, and real-time performance analytics. The business model includes commission fees, delivery fees, service charges, and surge pricing. In 2024, the company also introduced a subscription service, Chowpass, which provides benefits like free delivery on certain orders.

Headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, Chowdeck has rapidly expanded its operations across major Nigerian cities and into Accra, Ghana. The company has demonstrated significant growth, serving over 1.5 million customers with a network of over 20,000 riders by mid-2025. Chowdeck has secured substantial funding, including a $2.5 million seed round in April 2024 and a $9 million Series A round in August 2025, led by Novastar Ventures and with participation from Y Combinator. As part of its growth strategy, Chowdeck is implementing a quick commerce model, establishing dark stores to facilitate even faster deliveries of groceries and essentials, and acquired Mira, a POS company, to enhance operational efficiency for its vendors.

Keywords: on-demand delivery, food delivery, grocery delivery, quick commerce, logistics platform, restaurant technology, African tech, last-mile delivery, mobile application, marketplace, e-commerce, convenience service, super app, Nigeria, Ghana, inventory management, payment solutions, dark stores, venture capital, Y Combinator