Vancouver-based last-mile delivery platform Omnicart has secured $1 million CAD in fresh funding from sole participant Foodhub, a United Kingdom-based company that provides online food ordering and management software to restaurants.
Omnicart describes itself as a “plug and play delivery platform” that focuses on hyperlocal settings.
The latest round, which included $60,000 in debt financing, comes just over a year after Omnicart secured $500,000 CAD with participation from Motion Metrics founder Shahram Tafazoli and Oracle data scientist Oleksiy Ignatyev. To date, the startup has raised $2 million, according to CEO Arya Rashtchian.
Omnicart, co-founded in 2019 by Rashtchian and COO Nader Samadyan, describes itself as a hyperlocal “plug and play delivery platform.” Omnicart claims it sets itself apart from other last-mile services by not running the service itself, rather providing the technology for local businesses in small towns to address the gap themselves.
“Foodhub is excited about the recent stake acquisition in Omnicart, a move that signifies a leap forward in our mission to enhance our food delivery platform,” Foodhub founder and CEO Ardian Mula said in a statement. “We are confident that this collaboration will yield substantial benefits for all stakeholders involved.”
Foodhub provides partner restaurants in the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada with online point-of-sale, operations, and delivery management software. As a result of the latest investment, Rashtchian told BetaKit Omnicart is being integrated with Foodhub.
The absence of last-mile delivery in smaller cities and towns is a gap that major players, like Uber Eats, have recently attempted to address. Last month, the food delivery giant expanded its services into 50 small cities and towns across Canada.
“[Samadyan and I] help the little guys in small towns by empowering them with the technology that all the bigger guys have access to,” Rashtchiant told BC Business earlier this month after being named one of the publication’s Youth Entrepreneurs of the Year.
Omnicart claims its customers can set up its platform within days to deliver various products including food, beverages, cannabis, liquor, and consumer goods. The service is currently live in more than 30 cities across the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.
Omnicart said it will use the new funding to facilitate its expansion into more states, develop a new sales tool, and add product managers and engineers to its currently 14-person team.
