TORONTO, Aug. 25, 2015 /CNW/ -- Today, Favor, the Austin-based mobile delivery app, announced its first entrance outside the U.S. with an international launch in Toronto. Beginning Thursday, August 27, Torontonians can get anything delivered including their city favorites like Khao San Road, Burrito Boyz, and Pizzeria Libretto delivered in less than one hour. The app, which was developed by entrepreneurs and former pizza delivery guys, Zac Maurais and Ben Doherty, makes requesting the best Toronto has to offer as simple as tapping a button.
In an effort to resonate with the local neighborhood, the company has chosen to rebrand themselves as Favour throughout all of Canada. Favour is launching Thursday and will initially operate from 11am - 9pm every day. Favour's delivery area in Toronto covers most of the metro area including: Financial District, Discovery District, Fashion District, and Liberty Village. For a full map, visit FavourDelivery.ca/map/Toronto. Favour expects to expand both its hours and delivery area in the near future.
To celebrate the launch in Toronto, Favour is lowering cost of deliveries to $2.00 plus 5% of the cost of the items for the first two months. Additionally, all first-time customers will receive a free delivery. Simply use the promo code TORONTO upon checkout to waive the delivery fee.
The launch in Toronto will be Favor's 11th city, and comes fast on the heels of recent U.S. openings in Denver, Miami, Fort Worth and Nashville.
"Since launching in Austin two years ago, we've been able to fine-tune our delivery model, making it easy launch in new markets. We are continually looking to expand in the U.S., but saw Toronto as a massive international opportunity that we felt we could tackle," says Zac Maurais, co-founder and CMO of Favor.
Just-Eat, an online ordering company, is the most well known competitor in Toronto. Favor takes a much different approach by allowing you to get anything you want delivered via its team of personal delivery assistants. Through Just Eat, customers can only order from restaurants that have their own delivery drivers & who have partnered with them. In contrast, Favor Runners are there to bring you exactly what you want. In addition, Favor stands out by being the highest rated delivery service in America. Their trusted Favor Runners converse with customers via text message, letting them know approximate wait times or if an item is not available, providing instant customer service and truly filling a much needed gap in delivery.
"We've taken a mobile first strategy and made it super simple to order, almost as easy as texting a friend," says CEO and co-founder Ben Doherty. "We've developed proprietary algorithms that forecast supply and demand, prevent delivery errors, and dispatch deliveries to the fastest runner available."
Favor has gained a significant consumer base in it's more mature markets like Austin, where it first launched in June 2013. The company now employs over 50 full time employees and has over 3,000 part-time, tuxedo-t-shirt wearing Runners across all of their current markets which include: Austin, Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Miami, Nashville, Fort Worth, San Antonio -- and now Toronto.
"As we move into our first international market, we're looking to add something unique to the city -- we're not just offering a food delivery service, but rather a fleet of personal assistants who are ready to satisfy the everyday needs of a time-pressed consumer," Maurais says.
Favor has raised $13M in Series A funding. Leading the round was S3 Ventures and the investment will enable the Austin-based startup to continue expanding aggressively and compete with established players in the delivery market. "We've gone so far already, but we feel we're just getting started. Eventually, we want everyone to think of Favor before they reach for their car keys," says Doherty.
About Favor
Favor is the easiest way to get anything you want in your city delivered. Founded in Austin in 2013, Favor has quickly scaled to ten cities across the U.S., and internationally with the launch of Toronto. They employ over 3,000 tuxedo-t-shirt wearing Runners across Austin, Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Nashville, Miami, Fort Worth, San Antonio - and now Toronto. By combining superior customer service with cutting-edge technology, Favor offers customers a simple solution to have anything delivered in under an hour -- food from your favorite restaurants, dry cleaning, clothing, groceries, and more.
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SOURCE favordelivery.com
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Tina Heileman, [email protected], https://www.favordelivery.com, http://favourdelivery.ca
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