Brazilian food delivery challenger AppJusto raises record-breaking crowdfunding round

Created with the purpose of offering fairer rates and rules for delivery workers and restaurants, AppJusto (something like “FairApp”, in Brazilian Portuguese) has raised more than 1.8 million Brazilian Reais ($350,000) in a public offering. The round, raised through equity crowdfunding platform Kria, attracted 939 investors – a record for this kind of investment in Brazil

AppJusto was launched in August 2021 as a socialtech. The company seeks to generate a positive social impact on the gig economy and to be an alternative to the current monopoly in restaurant delivery services, which is mostly held by iFood, which has gobbled up 80% of the market.

The platform has about 17,000 registered workers, of which 3,000 operate in the city of São Paulo, and more than 300 active restaurants (out of a total of 900 registered). Since its foundation, the startup has made more than 8,000 deliveries and has 22,000 users.

The goal is to reach 3,000 restaurants and 5,000 approved delivery workers in eight months, reaching 15,000 deliveries. Crowdfunding resources will be used to increase the base of establishments and improve the product. Soon the app should gain new features such as receipt via Pix (an instant payments system created by Brazil’s Central Bank which has rapidly grown in popularity) and new features for logistics operations.

In addition, the startup, which until then had not invested in marketing, will plough resources into this area. “Our growth strategy is different from other platforms. It is not creating discount coupons, promotions or free shipping. When we talk about marketing, we think about how to reach more people. This involves creating content, answering questions about the Platform Economy and showing how AppJusto works”, said Rogério Nogueira, co-founder of the company, in an interview with fc Startups.

The executive adds that the company still does not have high sales figures, but that the product is validated and in the go-to-market stage. “We bet on the flywheel model, building a virtuous cycle in which one stage feeds back into the next”, Nogueira said.

“Having registered restaurants increases the supply of products, and good prices attract more consumers. This makes more couriers interested in working with us, and with more orders successfully delivered, more restaurants want to join the operation,” he added.

Reinforcing ideals

According to Nogueira, the option for equity crowdfunding modality was made due to the similarities between the modality and the values that guide the startup. “To have sustainable growth in a market that suffers from a monopoly, the best thing to do is to foster unity and collectivity”, he said.

To illustrate his point, the executive mentions his inspiration from the pillars of cooperativism. “A model in which everyone participates, has a little bit of the company and grows together. A strong sense of community where everyone wins as the business advances. Considering all this, there would be no way for us to choose a different model from equity crowdfunding”, he said.

In this modality, several people come together to make a joint investment, providing the capital needed to achieve the goal defined by the startup. In the case of AppJusto, the minimum ticket to participate in the round was 100 Brazilian Reais ($20), a decision to facilitate access for the most diverse audiences and reinforce the construction of its community.

“The value was thought specifically so that delivery people could invest”, Nogueira said. The objective was to make it possible for those who use the app as a source of income to become the owner of where they make a living (or, at least, part of it). On the restaurants’ side, the value allows entrepreneurs who suffered from the pandemic and are still recovering to invest and also profit from the returns of the business.