Burnaby, British Columbia-based Fantuan has closed $54.3 million CAD ($40 million USD) in Series C funding for its Asian food ordering and delivery platform.
The round, which closed in November, was co-led by GrubMarket, a San Francisco-based e-commerce company, and Celtic House Asia Partners, a lead investor in Fantuan’s seed round and an investor in GrubMarket. Mike Xu, GrubMarket’s founder and CEO, will join Fantuan’s board as a result of the round.
VisionPlus Capital, which led Fantuan’s Series B round, and JSD Capital also participated alongside undisclosed backers from North America and China. TechCrunch reported these investors include prominent figures in the Chinese retail tech space, including Bianlifeng, Qunar, Dianping, and the co-founders of Ele.me. To date, Fantuan has raised $90 million USD.
“This funding will play a crucial role in elevating our service experience and improving our operations,” Fantuan CEO and co-founder Randy Wu said in a statement. “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.”
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Co-founded by Wu and Feng Yaofei in 2014, Fantuan’s platform is very similar to Uber Eats, only it focuses on Asian foods and deliveries. Users can select from a variety of local Asian restaurants, some of which Fantuan says are exclusive to its app, for food delivery as well as use the app’s courier services for package deliveries and groceries.
Fantuan expanded its service to Toronto in 2016, then expanded to the US in 2019 before the launch of the English version of its app in 2020. The company went international last year, and now operates in 10 cities across the United Kingdom and Australia. Fantuan placed ninth on Deloitte Canada’s Enterprise-Industry Leaders list this year, sporting a 510 percent three-year revenue growth rate.
In addition to improving its food delivery business, Fantuan said it has been exploring other service sectors, including fresh produce delivery, a dine-in service, and a “ticketing service,” in order to meet the needs of Asian communities. Fantuan said it expects this funding round to propel it closer to its goal of becoming the “overseas version of Meituan,” a Beijing-based shopping platform for local consumer products.
“We believe Fantuan will maintain its leadership position in the Asian food delivery sector and achieve even greater success in more countries and business categories,” Celtic House Asia managing partner Jie Chen said in a statement.
UPDATE (12/5/23): This story was updated to note additional information shared by a Fantuan spokesperson.
Feature image courtesy Fantuan.
