The company that has brought us Bitcoin Pizza and creator-branded hot wings has picked up the scratch it needs to explore additional food delivery ideas. Popchew has announced a $3.6 million seed round, with participation from several popular influencers and top execs at Complex, Cameo, and HQ Trivia.
Six-month-old Popchew doesn’t just come up with branded food items; it also makes the delivery of those items part of the fun. The company worked with crypto influencer Anthony “Pomp” Pompliano (who also participated in the recent seed round) to develop a pizza delivery service that donates proceeds to the Bitcoin Development Fund. Popchew’s wing brand — launched alongside YouTuber Zias — offers eclectic flavors like “Blazin’ Orange Soda.”
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Popchew is using its fun-loving nature to pitch itself as an alternative to other companies in its space. Its most notable competitor is Virtual Dining Concepts, which is responsible for creator-branded ghost kitchens like MrBeast Burger. The Orlando-based firm raised its own $20 million funding round last October.
As Popchew thinks about it, creators can get more out of their food concepts by making the delivery experience part of the appeal. “Gen Z is the most connected generation in the history of the world and thrives off of social experiences, and yet food delivery today is transactional, boring, and lonely,” said Nick Sopchak, Co-Founder and COO of Popchew, in a statement.
“We’re making food delivery fun like it should be!” added Co-Founder and CEO Rushir Parikh, “We’re combining highly engaging brands built by our favorite creators with digital experiences like prizes, drops, and gifting, to create a delivery brand customers love.”
A stacked list of investors
Long Journey Ventures led Popchew’s $3.6 million funding round. With plenty of capital in hand, the startup plans to launch a new digitally-native food brand each month.
Who will be the face of Popchew’s upcoming items? The participants in this round give us a few ideas. Jake Paul has come on board as an investor through the Anti Fund entity he launched last year. While Paul has not announced a food delivery brand of his own, he did call Popchew “a scalable solution that will unlock new possibilities for creators to engage with their fans everywhere” in a statement.
Other Popchew investors include a few notable digital media executives. Rus Yusupov, who co-founded both Vine and HQ Trivia, participated in the seed round, as did Cameo co-founder Steven Galanis and Complex Studios head Rich Antoniello.
Popchew’s brands are already available in dozens of cities across the U.S., including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Austin, Denver, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles.
