Access to African and Caribbean food in the United States has long depended on distance. Many families travel across cities to buy familiar groceries or rely on a small number of restaurants that serve food close to what they grew up eating. For years, that access has been shaped less by technology and more by community knowledge—who sells what, and where.
ETNOWE, pronounced “Eat-Now,” is one of the platforms attempting to formalise that informal system. Founded in 2021 by Nigerian-born entrepreneur Ebenezer Oyinlade, the U.S.-based digital marketplace and delivery platform focuses on African and Caribbean groceries and restaurant meals.
The idea emerged during the pandemic, when accessing cultural foods became increasingly difficult for immigrant families. ETNOWE officially launched in selected neighbourhoods in 2022, connecting customers to local ethnic grocery stores and restaurants through a single app.
The platform was built to address two problems: limited access for customers and limited digital reach for community-owned stores and kitchens. Many small ethnic stores and restaurants operate with thin margins and limited digital infrastructure.
ETNOWE works directly with these businesses, offering delivery services and merchant tools tailored to their operations rather than forcing them into generic systems.
Between 2023 and 2024, ETNOWE expanded into six U.S. states, onboarded more than 30 grocery stores and restaurants, and processed over 10,000 orders.
In 2025, the company launched ETNOWE Chops, a restaurant delivery arm focused on ready-to-eat meals, and began developing additional tools to help merchants manage inventory, orders, and direct communication with customers. As of 2026, the platform operates across Texas, Maryland, Georgia, and Indiana, with significant activity in cities such as Dallas and Washington, D.C. The platform offers same-day delivery for groceries and meals, typically within two to four hours, and positions itself as a lower-cost alternative to mainstream food delivery services.
In January 2026, ETNOWE raised $300,000 in pre-seed funding from a group of early backers. This funding will support the next phase of growth, enabling the platform to scale to 100,000 users, onboard more than 200 restaurants and grocery stores, and strengthen its engineering, growth, and operations teams over the next 12 to 18 months.
The pre-seed investment will also help the company develop further tools for merchants and expand delivery coverage to additional neighbourhoods.
The company operates within the U.S. ethnic food and grocery market, which generated an estimated $50 billion in revenue last year and continues to grow alongside diaspora populations.
By focusing on underserved African and Caribbean communities and offering improved economics for both consumers and merchants, ETNOWE aims to capture a meaningful share of this expanding market.
Oyinlade says the platform is designed as infrastructure for Africa’s diaspora, connecting immigrants and second-generation Africans to local restaurants and grocery stores that provide the flavours of home. The company also plans to pursue a larger institutional funding round in 2027.
“African and Caribbean food is widely available in the U.S., but the technology serving these businesses has not caught up,” said Oyinlade. “We are building ETNOWE for people who know exactly what they want.”
The company’s early growth has been entirely organic, with thousands of orders processed without prior marketing or external capital, demonstrating sustained demand for a culturally specific delivery service.
ETNOWE’s focus on cultural authenticity and digital access highlights a gap in the mainstream food delivery market, offering a model for how technology can better serve diaspora communities while supporting local Black- and immigrant-owned businesses.
