Chowdeck

Chowdeck (Chowdeck Logistics Ltd.) operates a technology-powered, on-demand delivery platform that connects consumers with restaurants, food vendors, grocery sellers, local markets and pharmacies. Customers order through iOS and Android apps, track orders live and receive deliveries from a managed rider fleet; the company reports an average delivery time of about 30 minutes and offers 24/7 support to customers and vendors.

Beyond the consumer marketplace, Chowdeck runs a set of adjacent products including Chowpass, Relay, Chowstore, an advertising offering, and vendor and rider onboarding programmes. In June 2025 it acquired Mira, a point-of-sale provider for African food and hospitality businesses, adding real-time inventory and order management software and positioning the company as a combined vertical SaaS and logistics provider for restaurants. Following its August 2025 Series A, Chowdeck said it would build a quick commerce operation supported by dark stores and hyperlocal logistics hubs, targeting 40 dark stores by the end of 2025 and 500 by the end of 2026.

As of August 2025 the company reported operations in 11 cities across Nigeria and Ghana, roughly 1.5 million customers and a network of more than 20,000 riders. Its help centre lists Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, Benin City, Asaba, Abeokuta, Kaduna, Enugu and Accra as live cities.

Founding story

Co-founder and CEO Femi Aluko has described testing positive for COVID-19 on 31 December 2020 and spending 1 January searching for a food vendor that would deliver during a public holiday, eventually paying roughly four times the usual price. During a 14-day isolation period he concluded that local delivery was primarily an operations problem rather than a technology problem, noting that unreliable dispatch riders were a recurring explanation and that delivery companies in markets such as India completed millions of deliveries a day. The founders funded an initial pilot from their own pockets, buying three bikes and assigning riders to food vendors Korede Spaghetti and NiFries, and held weekly meetings with riders to learn the operating model. They then built the first version of the app in three weeks and launched a public beta in October 2021.

Business model

Chowdeck operates a three-sided marketplace linking customers, vendors (restaurants, stores and pharmacies) and delivery riders. Vendors onboard to reach new customers and use Chowdeck's logistics capacity, riders are recruited into a managed delivery network, and customers order via the mobile app. The company also offers vendor-facing products including a Vendor Hub, Chowpass, Relay, Chowstore, advertising, and point-of-sale software following the Mira acquisition.

Revenue is generated from on-demand delivery of meals, groceries, market items and pharmacy supplies ordered through the app, alongside vendor-facing services such as logistics for food vendors, advertising and, after the Mira acquisition, point-of-sale software. Management states the company has been profitable and says it does not enter new cities or verticals without a plan to break even within a couple of weeks.

Traction

Reported metrics: more than 500,000 users, more than 3,000 riders and eight Nigerian cities as of April 2024; approximately 1.5 million customers, more than 20,000 riders and 11 cities across Nigeria and Ghana as of August 2025. The value of meals delivered grew more than sixfold in 2024 year over year, and the 2024 total was exceeded before July 2025. The company reports profitability prior to the 2025 Series A and about 1,000 daily orders in Ghana within three months of launch, targeting 5,000 by end of September 2025.

Latest developments

In August 2025 Chowdeck announced a $9 million Series A led by Novastar Ventures with participation from Y Combinator, AAIC Investment, Rebel Fund, GFR Fund, Kaleo and HoaQ, earmarked for quick commerce, faster delivery times, a larger grocery footprint and hiring. The company plans 40 dark stores by the end of 2025 and 500 by the end of 2026, aims to reach 5,000 daily orders in Ghana by the end of September 2025, and in June 2025 acquired point-of-sale provider Mira.