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§ Private Profile · New York City, NY, USA
eCommerce platform for food distributors with AI-powered tools.
Pepper has raised $128.1M across 8 funding rounds.
Key people at Pepper.
Pepper has raised $128.1M in total across 8 funding rounds.
Pepper provides an AI-powered revenue platform, offering a comprehensive digital operating system designed for independent food distributors. The company's core product includes specialized modules such as Storefront for digital ordering, Order Agent to automate manual entry, Sales Hub for empowering representatives, Marketing Hub to drive operator demand, and Finance Hub for efficient payments and collections. These integrated solutions aim to streamline operations and enhance sales capabilities across various aspects of food distribution.
The company was co-founded by Bowie Cheung, who serves as CEO, with an insight drawn from his prior experience at companies like Uber Eats and Bain. Cheung recognized that the evolving foodservice landscape increasingly favored larger entities, prompting the need for tailored technological solutions that empower independent distributors to maintain their competitive edge and adapt to new market demands. This understanding forms the foundation of Pepper's product development.
Pepper primarily serves independent food distributors and their suppliers, delivering technology specifically built to meet their unique operational needs. The company's vision is to unlock the full potential of the food industry by enabling these distributors to grow their revenue and operate with greater efficiency. Pepper aims to equip independents with the tools necessary to move faster, sell smarter, and build stronger businesses, championing their role in the future of food distribution.
Key people at Pepper.
Pepper is a technology company building an AI-powered revenue platform and digital operating system for independent food distributors in the supply chain. It offers comprehensive e-commerce solutions, including seamless ordering, payments, sales enablement, marketing tools, and ERP integrations, serving regional and specialty distributors like Sanwa Fresh Orlando, Seattle Fish Co., and Testa Produce to boost sales, efficiency, and customer relationships.[1][2][3][6] By digitizing manual processes in a fragmented industry, Pepper helps independents compete against larger players, delivering results like 23% sales increases, 10 hours saved per week, and 93% buyer retention.[3][6]
Pepper was founded in 2019 in New York by Bowie Cheung, Chetan Narain, and Ivana Tesanovic, who drew from their experience scaling Uber Eats into a billion-dollar business, alongside backgrounds at Google, Bain, and Siemens in operations, data, and enterprise software.[1][2][4] The idea emerged from observing how restaurants still ordered from distributors via phone, voicemail, or email, while consumer-facing digital transformation lagged in the supply chain—prompting the founders to create tailored tools for independents.[1][4] Early traction came from hands-on efforts: the team manually processed voicemails and data to understand workflows, then built in-house integrations for over 40 ERP systems with 200+ modules; key hires like Wes Finch (agriculture expert), Margaret Handcock (seafood specialist), and Jason Gunn (ex-US Foods leader) infused deep industry knowledge.[1][4]
Pepper rides the digital transformation wave in foodservice distribution, where independents face consolidation from giants but hold edges in relationships and agility amid rising e-commerce demands post-pandemic.[3][4] Timing aligns with AI adoption for supply chains, automating manual tasks like order entry in a $300B+ U.S. market still reliant on analog processes.[2][4] Favorable forces include operator needs for efficiency, data transparency, and personalized service, which Pepper amplifies via its network effects—strengthening the ecosystem by empowering regionals to grow revenue without losing their human touch.[1][3][6] It influences by setting standards for distributor tech, as seen in its customer base and tools modernizing B2B food ordering.
Pepper is poised to dominate as the go-to platform for independents, expanding AI capabilities like predictive analytics and further acquisitions to consolidate tools in a consolidating market.[4][5] Trends like AI-driven supply chain optimization and e-commerce mandates for distributors will accelerate adoption, potentially scaling to thousands of users as foodservice digitizes fully.[3][4] Its influence may evolve from niche enabler to industry standard, betting on independents' resilience—equipping them to sharpen their edge in a future where tech unlocks their full potential, much like it did for early digital pioneers in food delivery.[1][2][4]
Pepper has raised $128.1M across 8 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $50.0M Series C in February 2026.
Pepper has raised $128.1M in total across 8 funding rounds.
Pepper's investors include Aaron Darr, Greylock Partners, Harmony Partners, ICONIQ Growth, Index Ventures, Interplay Ventures, Richa Mehta, Greylock, Imaginary Ventures, Jason Wang, Julius Genachowski, 9Yards Capital.
