Yummy, a food delivery and ride-hailing app active in the Latin American market, has raised $47 million.
The start-up, founded in 2020, is building a so-called ‘super app’ with several functions like transportation and delivery built into one service.
Counterparts like Bolt and Grab are building on a similar model in Europe and Southeast Asia.
Yummy’s latest round of funding has been led by Anthos Capital with several investors participating including Wind Ventures, the investment arm of Chilean energy giant COPEC. JAM Fund, Soma Capital, Ethos Capital, and YC Continuity also backed the round.
The company is headed up by Vicente Zavarce, a former senior employee at Postmates and Getaround.
He said that Yummy will be focusing on expanding its coverage in the existing markets of Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru and Panama with no immediate plans to enter new countries.
Yummy has signed deals with chains like KFC and Burger Shack to carry out deliveries in these markets while its delivery options have branched into goods like clothing.
According to the company, it has 2.5 million registered users and processes 800,000 monthly transactions.
It has more than 12,000 drivers and riders that are paid per delivery or trip based on distance and time rather than a hourly rate or per shift as some companies have done in other markets in recent years.
“E-commerce penetration within most of Latin America remains low, and access to modern financial services limited,” Zavarce said. “We see an immense opportunity to catalyze the adoption of mobile commerce and a new wave of inclusive financial products across the region.”
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Also as part of the raise, Yummy has appointed former Uber COO Barney Harford to its board.
Yummy has closed its funding round at a tricky time for the online food and grocery delivery market as companies adjust to post-pandemic markets and the current economic challenges around inflation. Last week a number of companies laid off hundreds of employees as part of this adjustment.
“We feel extremely bullish about the intersection in which Yummy is operating, and as Latin America continues to experience economic growth, we are confident Yummy will further become a household name for consumers searching for convenience, gig workers looking for additional work, and merchants seeking additional revenue streams,” Annie Luchsinger of lead investor Anthos Capital said.
