Asian Food Delivery Firm HungryPanda Raises $20M

Online food delivery company HungryPanda has raised $20 million in a funding round led by Antoine Nussanbaum from Felix Capital and Laurel Bowden from 83North, according to a release.

HungryPanda, which serves Chinese and North American restaurants, will use the capital injection to grow its team around the world, build new technology and focus more diligently on the U.S. market.

“The U.S. is strategically important to us, and it will be our primary focus in 2020,” said Eric Liu, CEO of HungryPanda. “We bring global experience and expertise in this market, which has already made us the leader in a number of cities in the U.S., including New York, where our order volume is almost four times more than the closest competitor.”

HungryPanda was founded in the U.K. in 2017, and has since grown to 31 cities throughout North America, the U.K., ANZ and Europe. The company has about 300 employees.

The firm aims to reach a yearly run rate of $200 million by May of 2020, and has a goal to launch in 18 U.S. cities this year.

“This is an exciting time for this specialist market. People are demanding authentic cuisine and a tailored experience that fits with their cultural background. HungryPanda is the best team out there with vision, drive and, most importantly, effective execution to serve this market,” said David Buttress, independent non-executive board director of HungryPanda and former CEO of Just Eat.

In China, HungryPanda provides a “tailored user experience to overseas Chinese users to help them overcome cultural and language barriers. It also enables Asian restaurants to connect with the right customers and provide an efficient delivery service,” the release said.

Investor 83North also has other food delivery companies in its portfolio, including Just Eat and Wolt. Felix Capital has invested in companies like Deliveroo and Frichti.

“We are delighted to secure the backing of 83North and Felix Capital to bring our unique service to more people in more places,” said Liu. “Their unrivaled industry investment experience, coupled with our ability to focus on the precise needs of our customers and launch in each new city within a two-week window, means we are in an ideal position to significantly scale the business to meet the huge levels of demand created by Chinese cuisine.”