As the delivery market continues to explode, delivery management tools empower businesses to scale and manage self-delivery operations alongside third-party partners
Cartwheel, an on-demand delivery management platform for restaurants, retailers, couriers, and beyond, announced today that it has raised $3 million in seed funding led by Moonshots Capital, with participation from Chingona Ventures and existing investors including TenOneTen Ventures, Act One, and Pitbull Capital. Funds will be used to further product development, partner integrations, and company expansion.
Cartwheel provides state-of-the-art delivery management software, built for on-demand optimization. The company’s technology supports in-house, outsourced, and hybrid delivery models, empowering operators to maintain control over the customer experience while balancing costs and resources to make every delivery profitable.
“Moonshots Capital invests in extraordinary leadership, and the team at Cartwheel has the leadership, experience and strategic vision to transform on-demand delivery,” said Craig Cummings, General Partner of Moonshots Capital. “To keep up with consumer demands, delivery has become a crucial required ingredient for brands and businesses, and Cartwheel’s technology powers a customizable solution that improves any delivery program.”
In the past year, Cartwheel has tripled its overall customer base and expanded to serve brands in the heavily-regulated cannabis and alcohol industries. The company’s tools are now available to more than 8,000 establishments nationwide, and Cartwheel is now one of the leading self-delivery providers for Olo (NYSE: $OLO), a leading on-demand commerce platform powering the digital transformation of more than 500 restaurant brands. Cartwheel has also cultivated more than a dozen partnerships and integrations with platforms including ChowNow and Nash, bringing Hybrid Delivery availability to small and mid-market businesses, courier services, and restaurant chains nationwide.
“The Cartwheel team has spent the last ten years building and optimizing delivery management technology, evolving a solution built for our own restaurant into a SaaS product designed for scale, and we are proud to count some of the biggest brands in the industry as our partners and customers,” said Alex Vasiklin, Cartwheel co-founder and CEO. “This round of funding will help us further the adoption of our delivery management technology, improving the delivery experience for operators and customers alike.”
Cartwheel’s Hybrid Delivery model allows businesses to maintain an in-house program alongside their third-party partners, enabling them to self-select some orders for self-delivery and redirect the rest to third-party services. During peak periods when an in-house fleet is occupied, Cartwheel automatically taps into outsourced driver fleets, and allows businesses to set automatic rules for order routing.
Cartwheel’s turnkey offerings for in-house delivery management include an easy-to-use driver app, sophisticated dispatch tools for managers, and user-friendly customer interaction functionality. Customers that outsource deliveries have access to a white-labeled network of drivers to handle overflow capacity during periods of high demand. Cartwheel matches driver supply with individual business needs, providing operators with additional capacity when needed, and its interface offers branded tracking links, making outsourced delivery feel like an in-house order to the customer.
“Cartwheel powers our in-house delivery program, and its software has been a critical component of the success we’ve seen in delivery over the past few years,” said Nick Scarpino, Portillo’s SVP, Marketing and Off-Premise. “We were so impressed with their work that we invested in the company, and we are thrilled they continue to grow and add new features to their platform.”
To date, Cartwheel has powered deliveries for top brands including Portillo’s ($PTLO) (also a Cartwheel investor), P.F. Chang’s, Charleys Philly Steaks, Taco del Mar, and more.
Cartwheel is an on-demand delivery management platform for restaurants, retailers, couriers, and beyond. The company was founded in 2012 as a delivery restaurant. After it quickly grew to become one of the most popular delivery operations in Los Angeles, the founders decided to focus solely on the delivery outsourcing business. When the team realized there was no software solution to meet all of their needs, they decided to build it themselves. Cartwheel offers turnkey solutions for in-house delivery operations, including an easy-to-use driver app, sophisticated dispatch tools for managers, and user-friendly customer interaction functionality. Cartwheel is also partnered with Olo and its network of restaurants nationwide. The company is headquartered in Los Angeles. For more information, visit www.trycartwheel.com.
Moonshots Capital is a seed-stage venture capital firm that invests in extraordinary leadership.
The firm was founded in 2017 by military veterans and business leaders Kelly Perdew and Craig Cummings. Collectively they have founded and operated 15 companies, and have invested in over 105 ventures. Beyond capital, they deploy their military and entrepreneurial experience and network to help world-changing companies grow. The firm has offices in Los Angeles and Austin, Texas. Visit www.moonshotscapital.com to learn more.
