Among the highly competitive field of food delivery companies, a Chicago upstart is growing fast with its platform that specializes in bringing authentic Asian cuisine to your door.
Chowbus announced Wednesday that it's raised $33 million in a Series A round led by Silicon Valley VC firm Altos Ventures and NYC-based Left Lane Capital. Other backers in the round include Hyde Park Angels, Fika Ventures, FJ Labs and Silicon Valley Bank. The startup has now raised around $38 million to date.
Chowbus is among the companies that's seen a major uptick in business amid the coronavirus as diners flock to online food delivery options. But COO Kenny Tsai said Chowbus was growing quickly even before Covid-19 changed America's dinner plans. The startup says it has increased its revenue 700% year-over-year and has grown to more than 300 employees.
Founded in 2016, Chowbus connects diners to local Asian restaurants in over 20 cities in North America (it launched in Toronto just last week). It operates in major cities like New York, Chicago and L.A., as well as smaller towns like Champaign and Ann Arbor.
The startup features restaurants you're not likely to find on other third-party delivery apps, specializing in high-quality mom-and-pop restaurants. Its app also focuses on specific dishes, rather than the restaurant, and it offers a bundling feature that lets you order items from multiple restaurants in a single delivery with no added fees.
"We really highlight and curate the dish, not necessarily the restaurant," Tsai said.
Tsai, who was previously the COO of JUMP Bikes and one of Uber’s first 50 employees, joined Chowbus in January and is among several high-profile hires the startup has made recently. It also added former Groupon product lead Jieying Zheng as its head of product.
The startup said it plans to use the funding to launch in new cities and expand its product offerings, like grocery delivery and a "dine-in" feature that allows customers to order and pay from their phone while they're at a restaurant---allowing for a contactless dining experience.
As heavily funded companies like Grubhub, Uber, DoorDash and others dominate the headlines in the food delivery wars, smaller delivery players have still found a way to carve out their niche. EatStreet in Madison, WI., for example, has also seen a boost in business during Covid as it serves markets that are often overlooked by the larger delivery players.
Chowbus was listed this year among the 100 fastest-growing marketplace companies in the U.S. by Andreessen Horowitz.
