6 months ago
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Doorstep Jamaica, the food delivery app formerly called Cutdiline, has sold a stake in the business to a fund whose minority owner includes Afrobeats artiste Burna Boy.
The size of the acquisition was not disclosed, nor the price paid for the shareholdings.
The investment aims to accelerate Doorstep’s growth and expansion across Jamaica, the Caribbean, Latin America, and eventually Africa.
“This investment will upgrade their existing platform to position the business to ramp up considerably and more efficiently,” the Development Bank of Jamaica, DBJ, told the Financial Gleaner.
The stake in Doorstep Jamaica was acquired by Caribbean Venture Capital Fund, CVCF, in which DBJ is an investor. CVCF is based in Kingston.
DBJ was silent on the size of the acquisition, but hinted at the potential for future investment.
“The fund reserves capital for follow-on investments, up to a maximum of US$2 million ($315 million), based on the company meeting agreed targets. It anticipates any additional capital will be for horizontal expansion across the Caribbean,” the development bank said.
Founded in 2018 and led by CEO Victor Clemetson and Chief Operating Officer Javed Cameron, Doorstep partners with local drivers and bikers to provide food delivery services. The company will use the new funding to enhance its online platform, scale operations, and diversify service offerings.
“In addition to food delivery, Doorstep plans to broaden its service offerings to include the delivery of groceries, medicines, and other essential services, addressing the needs of locals and fulfilling orders for Jamaicans living abroad,” DBJ said.
Going by Google Trends, the most popular food delivery services in Jamaica seem to be 7Krave, followed by QuickCart. Doorstep arguably ranks third locally in a comparison among six local apps. Few of the apps have consistent data points, making comparisons difficult.
The data also suggests that ‘Cutdiline’ still has higher brand awareness than ‘Doorstep’.
Caribbean Venture Capital Fund is a US$50-million fund managed by US-based Mscale LLC, which is led by CEO Ugo Ikemba. The fund focuses on scalable, early-stage companies and includes investors such as the DBJ, Pan African Capital Holdings, businessman Joseph Matalon, and Burna Boy. The CVCF will close its fundraising to new investors in May 2025.
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