36Kr Exclusive | "Chowbus" Raises $81 Million in Funding, Leverages AI to Become the SaaS Choice for North American Restaurant Brands

Ask AI · Why does transitioning from food delivery platforms to SaaS improve competitiveness?

36Kr has learned that North American leading restaurant SaaS company “Chowbus” announced the completion of an $81 million new funding round, bringing total funding to $209 million. The current round was co-led by Prysm Capital and Left Lane Capital, with follow-on investments from Dutchess, Fika, Avid Bank, and others. The funds will be primarily invested in two areas: AI product development and global expansion.

Chowbus is a company that 36Kr has been following closely. Founded in 2016, it has been deeply rooted in the North American market for ten years, achieving full coverage across the US and Canada. With its “North American local DNA + deep adaptation across all categories,” Chowbus has become a core partner for many Chinese restaurant brands going abroad, such as Jasmine Milk Tea, Auntie Hu, Naixue, Tea Baidao, Shu Yi Burnt Grass Jelly, Tea Talk, Xiao Long Kan, Wallace, Ziyan Bait Chicken, as well as North American local Asian brands like Chuan Shan Jia, Zheli, and Chubby Group.

This funding round comes more than two years after its previous round. During this period, the company completed a key transformation—from a well-known “Asian food delivery platform” to a SaaS provider focused on Asian cuisine.

After selling its delivery business in 2024, Chowbus fully shifted its focus to cloud POS and ecosystem solutions. It has now built a comprehensive product matrix covering front-end, middle-end, and back-end systems: the front end offers self-service ordering, order pickup call numbers, branded skins, and dedicated apps to enhance user experience and brand consistency; the back end integrates with KDS smart kitchen display systems to streamline front-of-house, kitchen, and delivery workflows, improving order fulfillment efficiency; the middle platform, based on a cloud platform, provides operational modules such as membership, CRM, staff management, and data analytics.

Focusing on AI, nearly 1,000 restaurants adopted the first product in two months

Chowbus’s exploration of AI began at the end of 2024. In January this year, the company launched its first AI product—AI Digital Ads—to help restaurants automatically run ads on platforms like Google Maps. Previously, restaurants spent two to three thousand dollars per month on such advertising, but Chowbus’s AI tool charges only $300 per month, bringing in 50-150 customers per store, with customer acquisition costs as low as $2-6.

“Within two months of launch, nearly 1,000 restaurants are using it,” Chowbus founder and CEO Wen Linxin told 36Kr.

It is also reported that Chowbus plans to introduce additional AI products such as AI marketing calendars, AI call answering, and AI data insights, covering restaurant marketing, customer service, and operations to more comprehensively address the digitalization gaps in restaurant management.

For example, the AI marketing calendar can automatically plan social media content; AI call answering can solve issues related to phone orders and location; AI data insights send daily operational reports to restaurants, highlighting areas for optimization. “It’s like an AI restaurant manager with multiple assistants helping in different areas.”

Regarding AI strategy, Wen Linxin said, “In this era, AI is not an optional choice; it’s a necessary one.” Harley Miller, managing partner of Left Lane Capital, the lead investor, stated, “Chowbus is leveraging AI to enter these huge service sectors, offering capabilities ten times more efficient than traditional solutions.”

Starting with Canada, accelerating global expansion

In terms of customer structure, Chowbus has deeply integrated with many Chinese brands going abroad and North American local Asian brands. Wen Linxin describes the relationship as a “revolutionary friendship”: “We provide local knowledge (compliance, tipping culture, staff onboarding), and they bring advanced ideas.”

He observes that Chinese brands expanding into the US are showing new characteristics: slow initial store openings (the first store may take 6-12 months), but once opened, they are “very profitable,” with steady revenue growth. “The US is a place suitable for long-term business, with high customer loyalty. Many brands see single-store revenue exceeding two years without decline, and even increasing.”

Now, beyond AI, regional expansion has become another growth driver for Chowbus—while previously mainly covering first-tier city business districts, by 2026, second- and third-tier cities will become key expansion areas. Additionally, Canada will serve as a new starting point to accelerate global growth.

Overall, the North American restaurant SaaS market faces strong competitors, but Wen Linxin remains confident: “We are a modernized, all-in-one solution targeting Asian restaurants. Currently, there’s probably no other product on the market with this positioning.” Looking ahead, he is optimistic: a tenfold growth in three years. “The market is far from saturated; we don’t have enough manpower even in first-tier cities. Plus, with AI product upgrades, expansion into second- and third-tier cities, and Canada, the growth path is clear.”