Singapore-based food delivery startup, Grain, has announced a Series A round of fundraising led by NSI Ventures, and including 500 Startups, Digital Media Partners (DMP), and Managing Director of GK Holdings Ltd., Koh Boon Hwee, among other angel investors, according to e27. TechCrunch reports that the round is officially not yet closed, but stands at a raising of US$1.7 million.

 

Whereas other delivery startups, such as FoodPanda position themselves as middlemen between restaurants and consumers, Grain produces its food itself, intentionally offering a curated menu of only four different meals per day priced between SG$9.95 and SG$12.95 (US$6.90 and US$9) with sliding delivery fees attached. This model allows Grain to remain unit profitable, according to Grain co-founder, Yi Sung Yong – something that other startups in the crowded sector are unable to achieve.

 

“What we’re building is a bit more nuanced [than services like FoodPanda],” Grain co-founder Rifeng Gao told TechCrunch. “We’re like a restaurant on the cloud, [when] you want good food that’s convenient, we want Grain to be the first thing that you think about.”

 

The newly raised funds will be used to increase efficiency within its operations, increasing its number of distribution hubs comprised of vans that keep food either hot or cold, situated strategically throughout a 2.5 square kilometer area from which delivery personnel can get meals to deliver to customers in a shorter time. The funds may also support the company in expanding its menu to six meals per day, and will support the startup to move to “a kitchen that is 10 times bigger, at the end of February,” co-founder Yi Song Yong told e27.

 

Looking toward the future, Grain is planning to expand into Hong Kong by the end of the year, and then possibly into Shenzhen, Beijing, and possibly Indonesia if the market matures enough, according to Yong.