MealMea Unified API, which embeds food and retail ordering into consumer apps and websites, announced Thursday that it has secured $8 million in Series A funding. The newly raised capital brings the total raised to $16 million.
MealMe has gone through several changes since its launch in 2019. Initially, it was a consumer app designed to help people find the best deals on delivery from restaurants and grocery stores. It then evolved to allow users to order food directly through the MealMe app.
The company has now fully transitioned to a B2B model, offering its API for other businesses to integrate the ordering technology into their applications and websites. When a company integrates MealMe’s API, it has real-time access to product pricing and availability, enabling customers to order their products from local stores.
MealMe says its API provides inventory data on more than 1 billion products from more than 1.2 million grocery stores, restaurants and retailers across the U.S. and Canada. It currently serves more than 100 customers, including Fantuan Delivery, Favor Delivery, TripAdvisor, and others.
“We built an API for ourselves with the consumer app to add orders from stores to our app, and then realized, OK, let’s keep growing our app,” Matthew Bouchner, co-founder and president, told TechCrunch. We can, or we can pivot to B2B and be an infrastructure layer for someone who needs the ability to pull menus and inventory and send orders to stores.
Buchner added that the company made the pivot after seeing the growing trend of embedded commerce, which essentially involves integrating e-commerce features into existing platforms. This allows businesses to offer their products directly to consumers through the platforms they already use.
“Everything is going to be embedded. You’re going to be able to order from your car, from your TV, from your existing social networking apps, with your AI-based assistant, and there has to be an infrastructure layer for that. “Having that consumer-facing platform in stores and marketplaces … I think we’re going to be at the forefront of everything embedded for years to come,” he said.
The Series A was led by Mercury Fund with participation from existing investors Gangles and Palm Drive Capital.
The company will use the new capital to strengthen marketing efforts and grow the team to provide better developer support to enterprise customers. Apart from food ordering and delivery, the company aims to focus on expanding into other areas such as broader e-commerce and AI.
Credit : techcrunch.com
