Nigerian startup Chao is helping students quickly and reliably order food, groceries, and medicine deliveries to campuses, aiming to make essential services accessible with the convenience of online ordering and swift deliveries.
The idea for Chao came about in 2021 when founder Gift Akobundu, a student at the time, faced challenges getting food after hectic school days.
“It was not possible to efficiently order meals from stores because no food delivery platform operated within campus environs. I began talking with restaurants to gain deeper insights into their individual business operations, understanding what it would take to solve the problem as a software engineer – not just for users, but also for the stores,” he told Disrupt Africa.
Akobundu reached out to his friend, and soon-to-be co-founder, Melvin Senne-Aya, to help develop Chao, and the pair believe they have identified a significant gap in the market for reliable delivery services in underserved areas and campuses.
“While numerous delivery services operate in urban areas, few cater specifically to the needs of students and remote regions. The competition includes larger delivery platforms that focus on major cities, leaving a niche for Chao to fill by providing tailored services to less accessible locations,” Akobundu said.
The startup has been on a bootstrapped journey so far, operating and scaling with revenue, and receiving awards and recognition for its growth while validating the viability of its target market. It won the e-commerce prize at the Wema Bank Hackathon and Grand Summit in 2023, was was also crowned champion at Markhack 3.0, organised by Eko Innovation Centre and GDM Group this year.
“We are also a portfolio company of ALX Ventures, currently part of the brightest startups in the ALX Ventures Accelerator 2024 cohort. Effective from our beta launch, and despite continuous hurdles, we have scaled Chao into two new communities, with two more planned before the end of Q4 2024, forging partnerships and acquiring local food delivery services, leveraging their experience to further enhance our offerings,” said Akobundu.
“The uptake has been promising, particularly within our targeted campuses and communities. The user base is steadily growing, with over 3,000 users as more people become aware of our service’s convenience and reliability. Feedback from users has been positive, with many appreciating our prompt deliveries and the variety of available products.”
Chao currently maintains a presence in three areas – Babcock University, University of Port Harcourt, and Redemption City, with plans to expand to 12 more communities within 24 months.
Akobundu said it generates revenue primarily through dynamic distance-based delivery charges, store commissions, and service charges.
“In the past 12 months in beta, we have processed over NGN 70 million (US$44,000) in gross merchandise value, successfully delivering over 25,000 orders, disbursing NGN10 million (US$10,000) in rider payments, and realising a revenue of NGN17.5 million (US$11,000),” he said.
