In a post on X, Chief Executive Officer Femi Aluko announced, “I am super pumped to share that last month, @chowdeck hit over 1 million orders in Nigeria in a single month! ” He added that while recent weeks had not been perfect, the company was “listening, learning, and fixing things quickly.”

According to Aluko, Chowdeck’s daily orders have climbed from an average of around 30,000 to more than 40,000 and continue to rise. The pace of this growth shows the company’s widening reach across Nigerian cities and its recent expansion into Ghana.

Founded in 2021, Chowdeck has built a strong foothold through speed, consistent delivery, and customer-focused incentives. Its “Rider Games” programme, ChowScore loyalty system, and referral discounts have helped it attract and retain a fast-growing base of users. 

What began with just a few hundred customers now serves over a million monthly across Lagos, Abuja, Ibadan, Port Harcourt, and other cities.

The company’s expansion strategy has been deliberate. In June 2025, Chowdeck acquired Mira, a point-of-sale startup created by former Flutterwave and Paystack employees, to strengthen its merchant ecosystem. This move added payment processing, inventory management, and financing tools to the platform, aligning with Chowdeck’s quick commerce vision. 

Two months later, it secured $9 million in Series A funding led by Novastar Ventures, joined by Y Combinator, Founders Factory Africa, and Voltron Capital.

Chowdeck’s rapid growth comes amid the exit of competitors such as Jumia Food and Bolt Food, both of which withdrew from Nigeria after struggling with thin margins and high costs of operation. Their departure left a gap in several markets, one that Chowdeck has been quick to fill.

In Ghana, where the company launched earlier this year, it reached 1,000 daily orders within three months, three times faster than it managed during its initial rollout in Nigeria. This achievement shows strong demand and also operational efficiency refined over time.

Despite facing challenges with support and logistics, Aluko credits customer trust and patience as central to the company’s progress. “This milestone reminds us of what is possible when people believe in what we’re building,” he said. “Cheers to 1M orders! It’s still Day 1, and there are many more wins to come.”

With this acquisition, value not yet disclosed, Chowdeck is no longer just a delivery company. It is becoming an infrastructure provider for the food, retail, and hospitality businesses it serves.

Mira’s technology, a suite of POS tools that include inventory management, payment processing, invoicing, and financing options, will now be integrated directly into Chowdeck’s platform. 

This means that the same company that handles a vendor’s deliveries could soon manage its entire back-end operations.

Ted Oladele will take up a new role as Head of Product at Chowdeck. His co-founder, Ibojo, is stepping away from tech to take a career break after nearly a decade in the industry. Several other Mira employees will join Chowdeck’s team to build out the new business segment.

The acquisition comes at a time when Chowdeck is pursuing rapid growth. Since launching in 2021 with just 300 users, the company now claims over a million active users per month. 

Its delivery fleet has also grown to more than 10,000 riders across multiple Nigerian cities and Accra, Ghana, a market it entered recently and says it’s working to be the go-to platform far quicker than it did at home.

The last-mile delivery sector in Nigeria is facing challenges. Logistics firms face razor-thin margins, poor road networks, rising fuel prices, and consumers unwilling to pay more for faster service. 

Jumia Food, Bolt Food, Sendy, and Hytch have either exited or pivoted due to the hostile conditions. With investor appetite drying up, companies still in the race are being forced to rethink what they are and who they serve.

Chowdeck is doing just that. “For a long time, we’ve focused more on the customer side than on the restaurant, supermarket, and pharmacy side,” said CEO Femi Aluko. “But as we begin to expand, we’re paying deeper attention to the vendor side.”

With Mira, Chowdeck gains real-time visibility into in-store inventory and operations, a longstanding problem in the food delivery world. Customers often order items that are out of stock, leading to cancelled orders and frustration. 

Delivery platforms try to solve this by placing human agents in restaurants to manually track inventory, but it’s clumsy and inefficient.

Osarumen Osamuyi, founder of the research publication Subtext, said, “The challenge is that it’s difficult to solve this problem without having a monopoly on the market because the restaurants need to be able to sell on multiple aggregators.” He adds, “Being integrated with the inventory management system is a much more elegant way of doing that.”

By plugging directly into vendors’ inventory systems, Chowdeck eliminates guesswork. Fewer cancellations, faster delivery, better user experience and for vendors, more predictability.

But it’s not just about user satisfaction. The data Mira provides gives Chowdeck a clearer picture of how vendors run their businesses, what’s selling, what’s not, when cash flow dips. 

With that insight, Chowdeck can offer targeted financing or operational support, opening up a new revenue stream and strengthening vendor retention.

It’s a model that’s already been tested abroad. U.S.-based DoorDash acquired Bbot to expand into in-store dining systems. Square evolved from payments to become an all-in-one solution for SMEs, integrating e-commerce and lending. 

Chowdeck is borrowing a similar playbook and adapting it to Nigeria’s food retail sector.

This also puts Chowdeck on a collision course with fintech giants like Moniepoint, which recently acquired a POS startup to deepen its own play in retail. Competition will be fierce, and the stakes are high, bthe benefits could be transformative.

From the outside, it looks like Chowdeck is building a moat by embedding itself in the operations of the businesses it serves. This makes it harder for rivals to poach its vendors and gives Chowdeck control over a larger part of the value chain. It’s no longer just moving food, it’s powering the business behind the food.

Expanding into the fintech layer brings new regulatory checks. Scaling a POS business in Nigeria demands more support infrastructure, customer service, and technical capacity, all of which cost money. 

There’s also the question of team dynamics and integration. Samuel Frank, an analyst at Sahara Impact Ventures, warns: “Acquisitions can lead to higher operational costs, especially with staffing. It’s not always clear how teams will merge or how fast the value will materialise.”

The company already has a partnership with Chicken Republic and has experimented with loyalty programmes and discount subscriptions. It’s also working with cloud kitchens and virtual brands to increase profit margins.

The food delivery market in Nigeria is expected to hit $14.41 billion by the end of 2025. Urbanisation is speeding up, and demand for convenience is rising. If Chowdeck can combine speed, affordability, operational support, and in-store accuracy, it might take over.

Themed ‘Empowering Youth Through Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship’, the summit included a series of thought-provoking panel discussions, a mentoring session  and an interactive workshop designed to equip young Nigerians with the skills, insights and networks needed to thrive in today’s tech-driven world.

Commenting about the event, Phil Oduor, head of Policy Programs, Sub-Saharan Africa said,

“At Meta, we believe that today’s youth are tomorrow’s change-makers. Through initiatives like the Youth Summit, we aim to foster innovation, promote digital literacy and empower young Nigerians with the tools and opportunities to realise their potential and contribute to Nigeria’s growing digital economy.”

Delivering the keynote address, Femi Aluko, CEO/Co-Founder, Chowdeck, shared his journey of breaking barriers to achieve success in tech.

He encouraged attendees to embrace the limitless opportunities within today’s technology ecosystem.

A panel discussion, led by Chinny Francis, Public Policy Manager at Meta, featured panellists Nifemi Akinwamide, Head of Operations, Alt School; Adaora Mbelu, Co-Founder of Lumination Global and Obaloluwa Adeagbo, Marketing Lead at Talstack. They shared valuable insights about the future of work, emphasising the importance of storytelling to build a personal brand, practicing self-awareness, developing soft skills, lifelong learning and honing problem-solving skills to thrive in a digitally transformed world.

Francis Sani, Technical Adviser for Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Capital at the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy, spoke at the event.

He highlighted the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) program, emphasising that the program aims to build Nigeria’s technical talent backbone to drive the digital economy and position Nigeria as a net talent exporter.

He encouraged youth to take advantage of this opportunity.

Another panel of industry experts took the stage during the ‘Lunch and Learn: Navigating Entrepreneurship in a Rapidly Changing Landscape’ session, moderated by Sade Dada, Head of Public Policy for Anglophone West Africa at Meta.

Seye Bandele, CEO of PaidHR and Damilola Teidi-Ayoola, head of Platform and Networks at Ventures Platform Fund, shared their invaluable insights.

Seye highlighted the importance of grit, curiosity and candour, while Damilola reinforced the need to understand one’s target audience, deliver value through their business and embrace data-driven decision-making in the dynamic entrepreneurial landscape.

The event also featured inspiring conversations with leading figures in the creative industry. Miss Techy, an award winning tech content creator and Salem King, a creator, storyteller, author and speaker, shared their experiences and advice on achieving long-term success.

Attendees also benefited from an interactive workshop and a mentoring session, where industry experts shared practical advice and strategies for entrepreneurs and tech enthusiasts.

Meta Youth Summit 2024 highlights a commitment to driving positive change, championing youth empowerment and advancing economic opportunities in Nigeria.

Through investments in key areas—such as the creative industry, digital literacy, economic impact and youth job training—Meta is dedicated to empowering young Nigerians to thrive in today’s tech-driven world.

Founded in 2021 by Femi Aluko, Olumide Ojo, and Lanre Yusuf, Chowdeck makes swift deliveries within an average of 30 minutes. Aluko’s experience in Dubai, where he encountered exceptional customer service and prompt deliveries, was the inspiration for launching the company.

Despite entering a market already occupied by established players like Jumia Food and Bolt Food, Chowdeck has achieved commendable growth. 

The company attributes this success partly to its focus on profitability from the outset. Unlike competitors who relied heavily on discounts, Chowdeck prioritizes sustainable business practices by minimizing discounts and offering them strategically on behalf of partner restaurants.

“We figured out the right economic model for our delivery business,” said Aluko, a former engineer at Stripe subsidiary Paystack. “We target the right customers who prioritize convenience and are willing to pay for fast deliveries, rather than trying to capture everyone with unsustainable discounts.”

The exits of Jumia Food and Bolt Food from the Nigerian market in late 2023 further enhanced Chowdeck’s user base, which has nearly doubled in the past six months.

Chowdeck emphasizes convenience as its key selling point. The platform utilizes geotagging to optimize delivery routes and offers varying vehicle options like bicycles and motorbikes. Additionally, strict timeframes are enforced on both vendors and riders to ensure prompt service.

Beyond food deliveries, Chowdeck has expanded its services to include grocery and pharmacy deliveries through partnerships with supermarkets like ShopRite and pharmacies. This multi-vertical approach has seen Chowdeck’s annual gross merchandise value (GMV) surpass ₦7 billion ($5.8 million) in 2023. The company currently operates in eight Nigerian cities, with Lagos generating 80% of its business.

The newly acquired capital will enable Chowdeck to improve operational efficiency and expand to more Nigerian cities. The company also plans to invest in enhancing the experience for its customers, vendors, and especially its delivery riders, whose earnings currently exceed three to five times the national minimum wage.

“We saw the potential impact we could have on the delivery landscape in Nigeria, particularly around rider earnings,” said Aluko. “Many of our riders consistently earn between ₦100,000-200,000 ($83-$170) monthly.”

Chowdeck’s seed round attracted investors, including Y Combinator, Goodwater Capital, and prominent founders like Simon Borrero and Juan Pablo Ortega of Rappi, and Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi of Paystack.

The announcement points to Chowdeck’s goal of becoming the go-to platform for on-demand services across the continent.

As of now, Shoprite is available on Chowdeck in four major cities: Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja, and Port-Harcourt, with plans to expand to more cities in the near future. The addition of Shoprite, a renowned retail giant, means Chowdeck users can now seamlessly order groceries and have them delivered to their doorstep.

With 11,000 Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) available on the store, Chowdeck declares itself as the one-stop-shop for all grocery needs. This Christmas season, users can revel in the convenience of ordering everything from festive treats to daily essentials with just a few taps on their smartphones.

The move comes on the heels of Chowdeck’s impressive growth, with monthly gross merchandise value (GMV) crossing $1.2 million in November 2023. Femi Aluko, CEO of Chowdeck, revealed that the platform boasts over 60,000 active users as of October 2023, a significant leap from the 7,000 users recorded in January.

Charles Dairo, CEO of Beezop, had previously emphasized the potential impact of a partnership between Chowdeck and Shoprite, predicting that such a collaboration would make Chowdeck “untouchable” in the market. Chowdeck’s Head of Sales, Kennedy Offor, acknowledged the challenge and successfully executed the partnership, adding Shoprite to the roster of notable chains already integrated into Chowdeck’s logistics application.

Chowdeck’s previous partnerships with food chains like So Fresh, Eat ‘N’ Go Africa, and Chicken Republic have positioned it as a major player in the on-demand delivery space.

Traditionally known for its on-demand food delivery services, Chowdeck’s move into the grocery industry is a noteworthy shift. This partnership both broadens Chowdeck’s offerings and positions it as a comprehensive solution for users looking to streamline their shopping experiences.

Chowdeck’s collaboration with Shoprite carries implications beyond the individual success of the two companies. The move mirrors a broader trend in the on-demand delivery industry, emphasizing the growing importance of diversification to meet the evolving needs of consumers.

As the holiday season approaches, the timing of this partnership aligns with increased consumer demand for convenient and reliable delivery services. In providing access to Shoprite’s extensive range of products, Chowdeck enhances its value proposition and also contributes to reshaping how consumers approach holiday shopping.

The strategic collaboration comes at a time when other players in the Nigerian online delivery market are also making significant moves. The exit of Bolt Food on December 7, 2023, further highlights the dynamic nature of the industry. Chowdeck’s ability to forge partnerships with renowned brands like Shoprite positions it as a formidable competitor, especially in the wake of industry exits.

Chowdeck’s alignment with Shoprite is not an isolated incident. The partnership follows a trend set by other online food delivery platforms like Glovo, which previously formed a similar alliance with Shoprite. This emphasizes the broader industry acknowledgement of the retail giant’s significance in meeting the needs of online shoppers.