Chowdeck Acquires Mira, Marking Bold Expansion Into Restaurant Tech
Nigerian on-demand delivery platform Chowdeck has acquired Mira, a restaurant management and point-of-sale (POS) startup, in a strategic move that signals the company’s ambition to become a full-stack tech partner for food and retail businesses across Africa.
The acquisition, announced today, gives Chowdeck control of Mira’s growing suite of tools for restaurants, including QR-based ordering, inventory management, kitchen oversight, invoicing, and payment processing. Mira, which launched in 2023, had also begun selling POS hardware priced around ₦360,000, targeting mid-sized food vendors and restaurants across Nigeria.
Though financial terms were not disclosed, the acquisition is widely seen as a significant pivot for Chowdeck, a Y Combinator–backed company founded in 2021 that has grown rapidly by offering last-mile food delivery in Nigeria and Ghana.
“With Mira, we’re not just helping restaurants get food to customers, we’re helping them run their entire business more efficiently,” said Chowdeck CEO Femi Aluko. “This acquisition accelerates our vision of becoming the operating system for African food businesses.”
A Strategic Shift Beyond Delivery:
The move positions Chowdeck to extend its value chain deeper into restaurant operations, an area historically underserved by robust tech platforms in Africa. Mira’s technology enables real-time inventory tracking, which can help reduce order cancellations due to stockouts, a common frustration for customers and vendors alike on delivery platforms.
Industry observers say this shift could be a game-changer.
“Chowdeck isn’t just competing with other delivery apps anymore,” said Ngozi Okonjo, a Lagos-based startup analyst. “They’re building a vertically integrated ecosystem, and this acquisition gives them a strong foothold inside the restaurants themselves.”
Talent and Tech:
Mira CEO Ted Oladele, a former Flutterwave and Paystack product leader, will join Chowdeck as Head of Product, bringing several of his team members along. Their expertise is expected to play a critical role in scaling the newly integrated platform and refining its software offerings for restaurants.
The deal also introduces potential new revenue streams for Chowdeck, including software subscriptions, transaction fees, hardware sales, and future services such as inventory financing or embedded payments.
Chowdeck’s acquisition of Mira follows a global playbook seen with companies like DoorDash’s acquisition of Bbot and Square’s evolution into restaurant tech. The goal: create an all-in-one platform that makes it hard for restaurants to switch to competitors.
The move could put pressure on local and regional rivals such as Glovo, Bolt Food, and even fintech players like Moniepoint and OPay, which have recently shown interest in the merchant space.
Still, integrating and supporting enterprise software presents new challenges for Chowdeck, whose core strengths have so far been in logistics and consumer engagement.
With a strong foothold in Nigeria and growing presence in Ghana where Chowdeck recently celebrated 1,000 orders within two months of launching in Accra the company is expected to roll out Mira’s tools to thousands of vendors in both markets over the coming year.
“We believe the future of African commerce is connected, tech-powered, and vendor-first,” said Aluko. “This is a big step toward that future.”
