Mel miA The unified API, which includes food ordering and retail in consumer apps and websites, announced Thursday that it has secured $8 million in Series A funding. The newly raised capital brings the total amount raised to $16 million.
MealMe has undergone many 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 consumers to order food directly through the MealMe app.
The company has now fully moved to a B2B model, offering its API for other companies to integrate ordering technology into their apps and websites. When a company integrates the MealMe API, they gain access to real-time product prices and availability, and enable customers to order their products from local stores.
MealMe says its API provides inventory data for 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 using a consumer app to add ordering from stores to our app, and then we realized we could continue to evolve our app, or we could pivot to B2B and be a layer,” Matthew Bochner, co-founder and president, told TechCrunch. Infrastructure for anyone who needs the ability to pull menus, inventory, and send orders to stores.
Bochner added that the company made this pivot after seeing the growing trend of blended commerce, which essentially involves integrating e-commerce features into existing platforms. This allows companies to offer their products directly to customers through the platforms they already use.
“Everything is going to be included. You’ll be able to order from your car, from your TV, from your existing social networking apps, using your AI-based assistant, and there has to be an infrastructure layer that connects that consumer-facing platform to the stores and marketplaces,” he said. …I think we’ll be at the forefront of everything embedded for years to come.”
The Series A was led by Mercury Fund with participation from existing investors Gaingels and Palm Drive Capital.
The company will use the new capital to enhance marketing efforts and grow the team to provide better developer support to enterprise customers. In addition to food ordering and delivery, the company aims to focus on expanding into other areas, such as broader e-commerce and artificial intelligence.
(tags for translation)APIs
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