When Lagos-based Chowdeck launched in late 2021, it was easy to dismiss the idea as another entrant into Nigeria’s unforgiving food delivery sector. After all, Jumia Food and Bolt Food had already burnt millions of dollars trying to build scale, only to retreat in late 2023. But three years on, Chowdeck not only remains standing, but it’s also scaling at a pace that hints at something bigger than just food delivery. It is positioning itself as Nigeria’s first true quick commerce platform.
Nigeria’s love affair with food
Few markets in the world have consumers as food-obsessed as Nigeria. Official data shows that households spend close to 60% of their income on food, the highest globally. That cultural reality, combined with a young urban population and surging internet penetration, has created fertile ground for digital ordering.
Nigeria’s food delivery market is one of the most promising yet complex consumer sectors in Africa. By 2032, analysts project the Nigerian food delivery sector could reach $2–3 billion. Yet, despite the size, no clear leader has emerged. Jumia and Bolt tried to dominate through deep discounts, but both exited. Today, the field is relatively open, with Spain’s Glovo as Chowdeck’s only serious competitor; Glovo too, in May 2024, announced its exit from Ghana, citing profitability concerns.
Against this backdrop, Chowdeck - backed by Y Combinator and recently raising $9 million Series A funding, led by Novastar Ventures, following $2.5 million in seed capital in 2023 - believes it can define a new playbook for Africa’s quick commerce economy.
A Dubai spark, a Lagos experiment
The idea took shape when co-founder and CEO Femi Aluko, a former Stripe/Paystack engineer, spent time in Dubai.
“Ordering food in Nigeria would usually take one or two hours,” he recalled in an interview with TechCrunch. “In Dubai, I got my meals in 30 minutes or less. And if there was a delay, restaurants would call me to apologize. I thought: why can’t we bring this kind of service discipline to Lagos?”
Returning home, Aluko teamed up with Olumide Ojo and Lanre Yusuf. They began with a few bikes and two restaurants. By October 2021, they launched officially. Today, Chowdeck has more than 20,000 riders, over 1.5 million users, and operates in eleven cities.
The company also acquired Mira in June to strengthen its capabilities. Mira provides point-of-sale solutions for African food and hospitality businesses.
From food delivery to q-commerce
Chowdeck’s core remains food delivery, but its trajectory increasingly mirrors global q-commerce platforms like India’s Zepto and Blinkit.
In India, q-commerce has exploded in recent years, moving beyond meals into groceries, pharmacy items, and everyday essentials - all delivered in under 10 minutes. Nigeria shares many of the same structural drivers: congested cities, overworked young professionals, and a preference for convenience over price.
Chowdeck is already layering these adjacencies into its platform. Today, in addition to food from Burger King and Chicken Republic, customers can order groceries from Shoprite and even medicines from pharmacies. Lagos residents can also send packages across the city via Chowdeck’s relay service.
It’s a classic q-commerce pivot: use a strong delivery fleet to broaden basket size, drive more frequency, and improve unit economics.
Vision to become Africa’s super app
For Chowdeck, the ambition goes far beyond food delivery. The startup envisions becoming Africa’s first true “super app” - a single platform where consumers can not only order meals but also shop for groceries, access household essentials, and eventually tap into adjacent services such as payments and logistics.
This vision mirrors successful models in Asia, where apps like Grab, Gojek, and Meituan transformed daily life by integrating multiple services into one ecosystem. In Nigeria, however, the path is more challenging. Building a super app means solving persistent barriers such as fragmented payment infrastructure, poor road networks, and high last-mile costs, while also navigating the expectations of a price-sensitive customer base.
Yet, Chowdeck believes its deep local insights, combined with fresh capital and a sharp focus on operational efficiency, will allow it to scale sustainably where global players have stumbled. If successful, it could redefine not just food delivery, but the broader digital economy in West Africa.
Beating the discount trap
One of Chowdeck’s biggest departures from predecessors is its discipline on discounts. Jumia and Bolt chased growth by subsidizing orders heavily, only to bleed cash. Chowdeck, by contrast, built its model to stay lean from the start.
“We figured out the right economics for delivery early,” Aluko said, speaking to a business publication. “We’re not big on unrealistic discounts. We’d rather focus on customers who value convenience and are willing to pay for speed.”
The numbers suggest this is working. Chowdeck takes a 24% cut from vendor commissions, delivery fees, and surcharges. Revenues grew by 1,200% between 2022 and 2023, while gross merchandise value crossed ₦7 billion ($5.8 million) last year.
Riders at the center
Unlike many gig platforms, Chowdeck has tried to brand itself as pro-rider. Aluko says average riders earn ₦100,000–₦200,000 ($83–$170) monthly, three to five times Nigeria’s minimum wage.
That reliability is key to keeping delivery times under 30 minutes. The company uses demand forecasting to match supply: if 10,000 deliveries are expected in a day, it ensures at least 1,250 riders are logged in.
Still, challenges remain. Nigerian traffic, patchy road networks, and inflationary fuel costs constantly threaten reliability. But Aluko believes automation, strict vendor regulations (restaurants must accept orders within five minutes), and flexible vehicle options (bikes, bicycles, motorbikes) are enough to maintain speed.
The African q-commerce moment?
The bigger question is whether Nigeria - and Africa more broadly - is ready for a q-commerce boom similar to India’s.
India’s Zepto, founded in 2021, hit unicorn status in just two years. Blinkit, another Indian player, was acquired by Zomato for nearly $600 million. Both thrive on the premise that urban consumers will pay a premium for the “15-minute lifestyle”.
In Nigeria, incomes are lower, infrastructure weaker, and logistics trickier. But the appetite for convenience is unmistakable. Nigerians already spend heavily on food and household items; if platforms can guarantee reliability, adoption could spike.
A Lagos-based PE investor, explains:“What Zepto did in India shows the power of speed in emerging markets. Nigeria is messier, yes, but the prize is big. The company that nails q-commerce here will own not just food delivery, but daily commerce itself.”
The next phase
With its new seed round, Chowdeck plans to expand into more Nigerian cities while deepening its verticals in groceries and pharmacy. The long-term vision, insiders say, is to become Nigeria’s go-to platform for instant anything - meals, meds, milk, or moving a parcel.
That’s the holy grail of q-commerce: being so embedded in daily routines that consumers can’t imagine life without you.
For now, Lagos accounts for 80% of Chowdeck’s volumes, but expansion into Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Ibadan shows the model can travel. The challenge will be balancing scale with unit economics - a tightrope even the biggest Indian players are still walking.
Why Chowdeck’s sustained momentum matters to African market
If Chowdeck continues its growth momentum, it won’t just be a win for Nigerian entrepreneurship. It could signal that Africa is ready for the q-commerce wave. That would have profound implications for logistics, urban retail, and even how African cities function.