ChowNow pulls in major funding

Online food ordering service, ChowNow, has closed a $20 million Series B round led by Catalyst Investors, bringing its total funding to $40 million. The company, which is going up against Grubhub, recently surpassed 8,000 restaurant clients using its software to serve partners' takeout and delivery customers directly through their own websites and white-labelled, native mobile apps. 

Catalyst partner Tyler Newton has joined ChowNow's Board of Directors. "ChowNow empowers restaurants to own their customer relationships by offering access via their own websites or native mobile apps. It offers a high ROI to its customers, has a large greenfield market opportunity and is benefitting from the shift in consumer preference toward digital ordering," he says. "We believe they provide a superior and more affordable solution for restaurants tired of paying ever-increasing commissions to online ordering marketplaces."

The venture says that it is on pace to help its restaurant clients process $400 million in orders from 3.8 million customers over the next year. Had these gone through a marketplace like Grubhub, restaurants would lose nearly $100 million in commission charges, according to ChowNow co-founder and CEO Chris Webb. That's why 65% of restaurants fulfilling delivery and takeout orders through the company list exclusively with it, he says. 

"Our goal is to provide restaurants with the tools to compete in an increasingly technical world. We help them get online quickly and easily so they can maintain direct relationships with their diners. Restaurateurs focus on the quality of their food and service, we arm them with the tools needed to compete," adds Webb. "We believe Catalyst Investors' experience growing SaaS companies makes them the ideal partner to help us expand our customer base and services."