Chowhub, a startup born of frustrated takeaway pizza customers, is aiming to cut out order errors as it prepares to pitch to investors for funding.
Chowhub’s concept was born out of a failed pizza order when founders Ismail Dhorat and Alireza Sadeghi tried to order a pizza while working long hours to build an online ordering platform for baked goods.
This inspired the two entrepreneurs to change the focus of the platform to a restaurant-based ordering service.
Chowhub is one of six startups part of Seed Engine’s first accelerator programme and will be taking part in the Demo Day event in Johannesburg tomorrow.
The platform transmits the customer’s order within 30 seconds to the restaurant of their choice and reduces the chances of incorrect orders, which usually result from errors and miscommunication.
Once the selected restaurant accepts the order, the customer will receive a confirmation SMS immediately.
Furthermore, Chowhub offers delivery or self pick-up order options on all the menu items on the platform.
South African restaurants are invited to list with Chowhub for free.
However, the online platform’s business model does not include processing fees or restaurant price mark-ups.
Revenue is made through commission, charged per order and paid by the restaurants so users do not pay any additional fees for ordering via Chowhub.
Chowhub received ZAR100,000 (US$11,000) funding from Seed Engine when it joined the programme, which enabled the team to work on the concept full time.
“It has been a challenging journey thus far, and it will only increase in the years to come as we scale this business to new heights,” said Dhorat.
Dhorat has more than 10 years experience within the IT and telecommunications industries, has set up a previous tech start-up and was a recipient of a youth entrepreneurship award.
Sadeghi achieved a Bachelor’s Information Technology Cum Laude through the University of Pretoria and has developed and managed several mobile solutions innovations within utilities.
