👨🏿‍🚀TechCabal Every day – Chow. Purchase airtime. Repeat

In Nigeria’s startup world, a preferred saying goes: you both die a startup or dwell lengthy sufficient to turn into a fintech. As we speak, Chowdeck, the YC-backed on-demand supply startup, proved that time, as clients can now purchase airtime and knowledge straight from its app. Over 1,000 clients have already tried the characteristic on its first day, in response to Chowdeck’s CEO.

At first look, the transfer may appear puzzling, but it surely makes good sense. After dominating the meals supply market and crossing a million month-to-month orders, Chowdeck has reached the dimensions and high-frequency use the place diversifying income is each logical and essential, as the brand new characteristic marks the corporate’s first step towards changing into an excellent app.

Tremendous apps aren’t new. When OPay entered the Nigerian market, it supplied ride-hailing, funds, and meals supply earlier than regulation pressured it to focus solely on fintech. That interval of diversification supercharged its progress and helped cement it as a daily-use app for thousands and thousands. 

In Asia, tremendous apps like Seize and GoTo have proven how far this mannequin can scale. Seize reported $873 million in income in Q3 2025, whereas GoTo holds a $4.25 billion valuation. 

Throughout Francophone West Africa, I’ve seen how this playbook works up to now week of my travels. Yango, the Dubai-headquartered tremendous app, bundles ride-hailing, meals supply, and funds underneath one roof. Jumia, too, has Jumia Pay. By increasing into funds, Chowdeck now owns extra of the client’s digital life. 

If Chowdeck provides ride-hailing, then you should purchase meals, pay payments, and order rides all from one app. Why would you not construct your life round Chowdeck? The extra companies clients can entry inside a single app, the much less possible they’re to churn. 

What subsequent: To maximise its tremendous app ambition, Chowdeck might open its at present closed-loop system and let customers switch cash between wallets, however doing so will plunge the startup into Nigeria’s murky waters of fintech regulation. Paystack’s ₦250 million ($174,000) wonderful over Zap operations can provide a cautionary story. 

Proper now, it looks as if the corporate is built-in with a licenced cellular cash operator (MMO) or funds service financial institution (PSB) that handles all of the regulatory features, whereas Chowdeck constructed the consumer expertise. If the corporate desires to finally maintain the licence in-house, it might want to fork out over ₦4 billion ($2.8 million) for a licence.