A B.C. tech company has just secured a whole lot of extra dough to help it deliver food to customers.
Fantuan announced Tuesday it has raised US$40 million in a Series C funding round co-led by U.S. grocery e-commerce platform GrubMarket and Celtic House Asia Partners.
VisionPlus Capital, JSD Capital and other investors from North America and China also participated in the funding round, according to the Burnaby-based Asian food and grocery delivery platform.
“This funding will play a crucial role in elevating our service experience and improving our operations,” said Randy Wu, founder and CEO of Fantuan, in a press release.
“The international food delivery market continues to exhibit significant growth potential. We aim to refine operations and enhance our competitive advantages on the users’, merchants’ and drivers’ ends, creating greater value for all stakeholders."
Fantuan, founded in 2014, operates in more than 50 cities across Canada, the U.S., Australia and the U.K. It was featured in Deloitte Canada's Technology Fast 50 list as one of the fastest-growing tech companies in 2022 and 2023.
The company said the funding will support Fantuan’s ambition to become the "overseas version of Meituan.”
Meituan, headquartered in Beijing, has grown from a food delivery app to a “super shopping app” for consumer products and retail services including entertainment, dining, delivery, travel and others.
Like Meituan, Fantuan has been exploring other services in addition to food deliveries, and has added fresh produce delivery, dine-in, ticketing and courier services for the Asian community to its platform.
Former Meituan executive Yinfeng Lu joined Fantuan earlier this year as chief operating officer to help lead the company’s expansion into ventures beyond food delivery, according to the company.
“The Asian community, comprising over 40 million people in the countries where Fantuan operates represents a market size of over $36 billion,” said the company in a press release.
“Fantuan's robust growth and its ability to attract capital reflects investor confidence, paving the way for broader opportunities in other service segments.”
