Yummy closes seed round to go beyond food delivery in Venezuela

Contxto – Food delivery startups are always up to something in Latin America. Yet, Venezuela is the one country that’s often sidelined from these developments. Mainly due to its internal instability. But for former Postmates director, Vicente Zavarce, there is major potential in his home country.

And so, with the goal of bringing a tried-and-tested business model to Venezuela, Zavarce founded food delivery startup Yummy. But this new company hungers to do more than just bring pizza to your door. It wants to become a super-app in the Latam country.

But such a feat requires external help. Which is why Yummy recently raised a seed investment. The startup didn’t disclose the amount it rallied in the round led by First Check Ventures.

Launching food delivery services a crisis that preceded the pandemic

Venezuela’s strict lockdown measures put restaurants even more on the edge and in dire need of delivery. So, Yummy’s launch in April of this year made for perfect timing.

The startup reports that it’s already buddied up with more than 145 merchants in the country, including fast-food chains Papa John’s and Pizza Hut, as well as a large pharmacy chain. 

This has amassed to over 10,000 monthly deliveries as its couriers or Yummers move about the streets of Caracas, Valencia, Barquisimeto, and Puerto la Cruz.

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The question is, beyond the usual challenges faced by last-mile delivery companies, how will the startup deal with the specifically Venezuelan challenge of margin-eating inflation? We’ve asked the folks over at Yummy to answer that question for us.

Yummy gets their First Check

Investors established First Check Ventures this year and it already has four startups in its investment portfolio. Two of these companies are from Latam, Yummy (obviously) and Brazilian used car marketplace, Carupi.

For the VC, Yummy’s growth in Venezuela—despite the challenges brought on by the Covid-19 outbreak—was a major selling point. 

Meanwhile, for the startup, the funding means growing its user base, boosting its tech stack, as well as tapping into other areas besides food delivery in this oft-ignored market.

“Venezuela has lacked the spotlight of tech companies and funding options, and beyond Yummy I hope this shows there is a fantastic opportunity in a very large market that has been underserved for a long time,” said Zavarce in a blog post.

Related articles: Tech and startups from Venezuela!

-ML