Chowdeck, one of Nigeria’s leading on-demand delivery startups, has acquired Mira, a restaurant point-of-sale (POS) and management system, in a strategic move that signals its expansion from last-mile logistics into the heart of food business operations.
Though the acquisition sum was undisclosed, Chowdeck CEO Femi Aluko noted that integrating Mira will help the company address long-standing inventory management issues and better support its vendor ecosystem.
“For a long time, we’ve focused more on the customer side than on the restaurant, supermarket, and pharmacy side,” said Aluko. “But as we begin to expand, we’re paying deeper attention to the vendor side.”
Founded in 2021, Chowdeck has rapidly grown into a dominant force in Nigeria’s food delivery scene, with over a million users and more than 3,000 active riders across eight cities. The company also recently launched operations in Accra, Ghana, where it claims it will hit 1,000 deliveries within two months—a pace that took a year to achieve in Nigeria.
Mira, launched just a year ago by former Flutterwave executive Ted Oladele, provides digital tools that power both the front and back end of food businesses. From QR code-enabled menus and in-app payments to inventory tracking, customer engagement, and real-time sales monitoring, Mira offers an integrated POS system. Its hardware POS terminals sell for ₦360,000, and over 500 businesses already use its platform.
Following the acquisition, Oladele will join Chowdeck as Head of Product, bringing along key team members to expand Chowdeck’s product offering. Mira had previously raised \$200,000 from a friends and family round and was in the process of securing a seed round before the acquisition.
Aluko described the acquisition as a long-envisioned move, stating, “I’ve admired their work for a long time, and I’m excited about what we can build together.”
The deal marks a major strategic shift for Chowdeck. While it built its reputation on speed and reliability in the delivery space, it now seeks to integrate vertically by offering operational tools that cover the full spectrum of a restaurant’s needs. Until now, its vendor-facing tools were limited to order fulfilment and logistics. With Mira, Chowdeck enters the enterprise space, offering services that go beyond delivery to include sales tracking, customer management, and inventory control.
This shift also positions Chowdeck to compete more effectively with international players like Glovo, which are expanding across African markets. By offering more value to food businesses beyond deliveries, Chowdeck could secure a stronger foothold and long-term loyalty.
However, success is not guaranteed. Selling enterprise software is a different game. It requires trust, deeper integrations, longer sales cycles, and consistent support—challenges that many Nigerian startups have struggled with at scale. Companies like Vendease have shown that persuading food businesses to adopt new systems can be difficult.
Chowdeck, however, may have a built-in advantage: distribution and trust. Restaurants already relying on its delivery platform may be more open to using its expanded suite of services.
The Mira acquisition could redefine Chowdeck’s identity—from a delivery-focused startup to a full-service infrastructure provider for Africa’s small and medium-sized food businesses. But the transition will demand not just product innovation, but operational maturity.
As competition heats up, Chowdeck’s bet on owning more of the stack could be what distinguishes it in a fast-changing market.
