Chowdeck, the Y Combinator-backed on-demand delivery startup, has raised $9 million in Series A funding to fuel its expansion across West Africa, particularly in Nigeria and Ghana. This funding round comes on the heels of Chowdeck’s successful entry into the Ghanaian market, underscoring investor confidence in its hyper-local strategy tailored to African consumer behavior.
The Series A round was led by Novastar Ventures, a prominent pan-African investment firm, and saw strong participation from both existing and new investors. These include Y Combinator, AAIC Investment, Rebel Fund, GFR Fund, Kaleo, and HoaQ. The capital will be used to deepen Chowdeck’s presence in key cities, enhance its logistics infrastructure, and expand its offerings beyond meals to include groceries, pharmaceuticals, and traditional market goods.
This funding milestone is particularly notable given the current global venture capital slowdown, where Series A rounds have declined by nearly 10%. In Africa, only a few tech startups, such as Rivy, SeamlessHR, and Raenest—have recently reached this stage. Chowdeck now becomes the first Nigerian food delivery platform to secure a Series A, joining the ranks of high-growth Nigerian startups like Flutterwave and Moniepoint that have successfully scaled beyond early-stage funding.
We’re still just scratching the surface. Consumer behavior has shifted dramatically in the past two years. We’re building for a generation that shops online and doesn’t even know where physical markets are.
Femi Aluko, Chowdeck’s CEO and co-founder
With over 1.5 million users and a fleet of 20,000+ riders operating in 11 cities, Chowdeck’s strength lies in its deep understanding of local preferences. Before Chowdeck, food delivery in Nigeria was largely limited to fast food staples like burgers and pizza. Chowdeck disrupted the market by offering beloved local dishes such as Amala, Ewedu, and Gbegiri, making traditional cuisine accessible via mobile.
This same strategy proved effective in Ghana, where Chowdeck achieved 1,300 deliveries in its first three months—a milestone that took nearly a year to reach in Nigeria. The company further cemented its Ghanaian operations with the strategic hire of Henry Whyte, former country lead for Bolt Food Ghana. In 2024, the value of meals delivered via Chowdeck grew more than sixfold compared to the previous year, and the company reports that it has already surpassed last year’s total in 2025, setting the stage for another record-breaking year.
As Chowdeck scales, maintaining service quality becomes increasingly complex. “When you’re doing 10,000 deliveries a day, even a 10% failure rate means 1,000 customers didn’t get their food on time,” Aluko explained. To address this, the company is investing in technology and infrastructure to reduce delivery times and improve reliability.
Currently, 97% of orders are fulfilled within 30 minutes, and Chowdeck aims to bring average delivery time down to under 20 minutes. A key part of this operational upgrade is the acquisition of Mira, an order and inventory management platform designed to streamline backend processes. “Every second now counts,” Aluko emphasized, highlighting the importance of precision and speed in the company’s next phase of growth.
