Nigerian food delivery food startup Chowdeck has successfully closed a $9 million Series A funding round to accelerate its e-commerce strategy and expansion across Nigeria and Ghana.
This equity round was led by Novastar Ventures, with strong participation from Y Combinator, AAIC Investment, Rebel Fund, GFR Fund, Kaleo, HoaQ, and other investors.
Founded in 2021 by Femi Aluko, Olumide Ojo, and Lanre Yusuf, the Nigerian startup has achieved remarkable growth in establishing itself in a field that is known as too hard to navigate. Since its establishment, Chowdeck has managed to accrue over 1.5 million customers across 11 cities in Nigeria and Ghana.
Other remarkable achievements include a network of over 20,000 riders that deliver customers’ orders. The combination of having a huge customer base and riders to serve them amounts to an average delivery time of 30 minutes, making good use of time while maintaining profitability.
As such, this funding will primarily support Chowdeck’s pivot into a quick-commerce strategy that plans to build and utilize a network of dark stores and hyperlocal logistics hubs to enable ultra-fast delivery of groceries and everyday essentials.
“We’re thrilled about this round as it brings us closer to our vision of becoming Africa’s number one super app,” CEO and co-founder Femi Aluko said. “This funding will supercharge our growth plans, enabling us to expand into more cities, reduce delivery times, scale our grocery footprint, and attract the best talent to drive innovation and customer satisfaction.”
Chowdeck’s focus on quick-commerce also comes after its successful expansion into Ghana this May, where it reached 1,000 daily orders in just three months without paid advertising. Now, with this funding and further expansion, Chowdeck has planned an ambitious rollout of dark stores, aiming to open 40 by year-end and 500 more by the end of 2026.
In June 2025, Chowdeck acquired Mira, a fast-growing point-of-sale solutions provider to food and hospitality businesses that bridges the gap between customer-facing operations and backend management. This acquisition, as a classic example of Vertical Integration, allows Chowdeck to expand its capabilities beyond delivery logistics, signifying the YC-backed startup’s strategic transition from a delivery service to a comprehensive provider of merchant operations technology.
Investors are also bullish about Chowdeck’s prospects, especially with the startup’s deep integration with local riders, vendors and customers, as well as its sustainability-focused growth model.
“Chowdeck is building the future of logistics for African cities,” Novastar Ventures partner Brian Waswani Odhiambo emphasized. “With deep local insight, a sustainability-first approach, and impressive execution, it is redefining last-mile delivery on the continent.”
