Food delivery startup from China ingests $30M investment led by Tencent

William Wu, Line0 founder and CEO

Nanjing-based food delivery app Line0 today announced it has closed a US$30 million series B investment led by Tencent and followed by Sequoia Capital and Gobi Partners.

The startup runs delivery services mostly for cheap franchise restaurants, guaranteeing a bowl of noodles or a Burger King Whopper to your door in less than one hour. It currently operates in five cities: Nanjing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Suzhou, and Wuhan. With this latest investment, it plans to expand to as many as 20 cities in 2015.

Founder and CEO William Wu says Line0 has "hundreds of thousands" of active users, mostly white collar young professionals.

The startup operates its own fleet of delivery drivers. The biggest challenge, Wu says, has been scaling up at such a rapid pace. For a service like Line0, first-mover advantage is vital. Quickly hiring both management and logistics personnel to quickly gain footholds in new cities is no easy task.

"For younger age groups, the demand for takeaway is rising year by year," Wu says (translation ours). "But among China’s food and beverage companies, small and medium-sized businesses lack the capacity to build their own delivery systems, while the giants generally do not want to, so there is a huge opportunity."

He adds that location-based online-to-offline services are a growing trend in China, and consumer habits are shifting in Line0’s favor.

Line0 secured an undisclosed series A investment from Sequoia Capital in July 2014 and seed round from Gobi Partners in July 2012.

Line0 is free to download on iOS and Android here.

See: WeChat-based food delivery startup ‘Call a Chicken’ raises $1.6M angel round