MadEats, Y Combinator alum, claims to be the first ‘full-stack’ startup in the Philippines to deliver only,” with their own virtual store, haunted kitchens and fleet of drivers. More than that, they also invent and launch their own brands, making them a delivery-only restaurant group.
The company announced today that it has raised $1.7 million in seed funding led by JAM Fund, Crystal Towers Capital, Starling Ventures, MAIN and Rebel Fund.
Launched in November 2020, MadEats currently has three haunted kitchens: one in Makati, Quezon City, and Manila City. They want to cover a larger part of the north of Metro Manila and eventually open brick-and-mortar stores as well.
Before founding MadEats, CEO Mikee Villareal told TechCrunch that the team worked for some of the top restaurant groups in the Philippines, where it launched, managed, and worked on more than 20 restaurant concepts. “At the start of the pandemic, we were asked to operationalize these restaurants to deliver ahead of time due to strict quarantine restrictions,” she said. “Dine-in concepts were hit hard and we saw the need for our business.”
She added that haunted kitchens have a different cost structure than traditional restaurants, giving the team the freedom to create product concepts that are more delivery-friendly.
MadEats now has six brands and is expanding its portfolio: Yang Gang (Korean fried chicken); Chow Time (Chinese takeout); Fried Nice (fried rice); Point coffee; MadBakes (a test kitchen for desserts) and MadMakes for bulk packs, corporate packs and packaged meals. The company is currently adding more brands, including smash burgers and Japanese food.
MadEatsOS, the suite of internal tools, makes the MadEats approach scalable. It includes an automated order routing system that ensures orders are fulfilled at the closest location, and analytics that show which brands and food items are doing well.
The company has its own MadEats drivers, and as the demand for orders grows, it is also partnering with third-party logistics providers. It’s available in third-party apps like GrabFood and Foodpanda, but Villareal said over 50% of its orders come in through its own platform, Madeats.co.
This post Manila-based MadEats is more than a haunted kitchen startup – TechCrunch
was original published at “https://techcrunch.com/2022/04/21/manila-based-madeats-is-more-than-a-ghost-kitchen-startup/”
