beU Delivery Raises $300,000 from Chinese Accelerator

beU Delivery, one of the largest food delivery platforms in Ethiopia, has raised $300,000 from the China-based accelerator MiraclePlus (formerly Y Combinator China), sources told Shega.

beU secured the funding after being accepted into MiraclePlus’s Fall 2022 accelerator program. As an accelerator, MiraclePlus invests $300,000 in all selected startups and then accelerates them through a 10-week program.

Although the news has only recently become public, the investment was actually closed approximately seven months ago. Despite attempts to reach out via email, both beU Delivery and MiraclePlus did not respond to inquiries from Shega.

Last month, Hao Zheng wrote on social media, “beU delivery was funded by MiraclePlus (formerly Y Combinator China). Can vouch for its quality – some of my batch mates were the smartest founders I know.”

With the goal of helping early-stage startups really take off MiraclePlus organizes a 3-month Accelerator Program twice a year.  MiraclePlus invests in companies that pass the screening and join the program in exchange for equity.

According to the information obtained by Shega, beU secured the investment by issuing 7% of its equity to MiraclePlus. This information is further substantiated by the details on the MiraclePlus website, which explicitly states that the accelerator provides a $300,000 investment in return for a 7% equity stake in the company.

Following the investment, MiraclePlus’s partners work with the founders for three months, assisting each team to prepare for Demo Day, where they can present themselves to thousands of potential investors.

beU’s Demo Day as part of MiraclePlus 2022 Fall batch was held at the end of 2022. In addition to beU, MiraclePlus also recently invested in anther Africa based startup, HustleSasa, a Kenya-based startup that empowers content creators through monetization.

In May of last year, beU completed a multi-million-dollar seed round of financing, led by Y Combinator, Goodwater Capital, US-based VC firm, and Ethiopia’s Addis Alemayehou.