Issue 159: Food Delivery Giants Feast on Funding as Breadfast and Chowdeck Secure Major Rounds

This week, we saw substantial funding activity in the African food delivery and fintech sectors. Two major players secured significant funding to fuel their continental expansion. Egyptian grocery delivery pioneer Breadfast raises $10 million to expand its fulfilment network, while Nigerian food delivery platform Chowdeck secures $9 million. Meanwhile, HoneyCoin ’ s $4.9 million seed round signals growing confidence in African cross-border payment solutions. Get the details below. Funding Breadfast Funding Round: Series B ($10 Million) Investors: European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Novastar Ventures Founders: Mostafa Amin, Muhammad Habib, Abdallah Nofal Founded: 2017, Egypt About Company Breadfast offers on-demand online delivery of groceries and other household essentials. The company initially started with a focus on baked goods before expanding into a comprehensive grocery delivery platform. The company has built a strong presence in Egypt ’ s urban centres with its reliable delivery network. What ’ s Next? The investment will accelerate Breadfast ’ s expansion of its fulfilment network, increasing capacity in core cities Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Mansoura, and other new markets to solidify its position as Egypt ’ s leading grocery delivery platform. Chowdeck Funding Round: Series A ($9 Million) Investors: Novastar Ventures, Y Combinator, AAIC Investment, Rebel Fund, GFR Fund, Kaleo, HoaQ Founders: Femi Aluko, Olumide Ojo, Lanre Yusuf Founded: 2021, Nigeria About Company Chowdeck operates a digital marketplace that connects consumers with food vendors and restaurants. The company’s platform allows users to order food from restaurants of their choice easily and have it delivered to their preferred locations, serving Nigeria ’ s growing appetite for convenient food delivery services. What ’ s Next? Chowdeck ’ s recent acquisition of Mira, a POS solutions provider, adds technological capabilities for restaurants and vendors. And with the company aiming to become “ Africa ’ s number one super app, ” it plans to use the secured funding to replicate its excellent results in new locations within and outside Nigeria. HoneyCoin Funding Round: Seed ($4.9 Million) Investors: Flourish Ventures, TLcom Capital, Stellar Development Foundation, Lava, Musha Ventures, 4DX Ventures, Antler, Visa Ventures Founders: David Nandwa Founded: 2020, Kenya About Company HoneyCoin operates a payment system that uses stablecoins to facilitate cross-border payments across different platforms, including banks, mobile money networks, and global payment providers. The company designed the platform to address the costly and slow nature of traditional cross-border transactions in Africa. What ’ s Next? The funding will finance HoneyCoin ’ s ambitious expansion plans into Asia and Latin America, while supporting deeper penetration across the rest of Africa, positioning the company as a global cross-border payment solution. Hypeo AI Funding Round: Pre-Seed (Amount Undisclosed) Investors: Renew Capital Founders: Meriam Bessa, Oussama Sekkat, Salah Eddine Mimouni Founded: 2023, Morocco About Company Hypeo AI ‘ s platform links brands with both human and AI creators in under 15 minutes. The platform features smart matching, real-time performance tracking, and pricing insights, eliminating the spreadsheets and back-and-forth emails that dominate much of the influencer marketing industry today. What ’ s Next? The new funding will be used to accelerate how brands and creators connect, replacing slow, manual influencer campaign processes with AI-powered tools that could revolutionise marketing efficiency across Africa and beyond. Street Wallet Funding Round: Pre-Seed (Amount Undisclosed) Investors: [undisclosed] Founders: Kosta Scholiadis Founded: 2021, South Africa About Company Street Walle t is a fintech solutions provider designing solutions to help informal traders go cashless. The startup ’ s solution enables each trader to receive a lanyard card with a unique QR code linked to their Street Wallet profile, bringing digital payments to South Africa ’ s massive informal economy. What ’ s Next? With the new funding, Street Wallet plans to expand its sales force, grow partnerships, and reach more communities, potentially transforming how millions of informal traders across South Africa conduct business and access financial services. Funding and Opportunities Job Opportunity: Artificial Intelligence Developer Join the Brain Builders Youth Development Initiative (BBYDI)! BBYDI is seeking a talented Artificial Intelligence Developer to lead the development of our innovative AI Fact Checker project. The company is building “ MyAIFactChecker, ” an AI-powered chatbot that allows users to verify claims in real time via WhatsApp. The solution aims to combat widespread misinformation and enhance civic participation in low-literacy communities. If you ’ re passionate about AI, social impact, and solving real-world problems, this is your