Dive Brief:

• FoodBoss, a Chicago-based delivery search engine, has secured $2 million in a funding round lead by former McDonald's CEO Don Thompson's venture capital firm, Cleveland Avenue, according to a company blog post. 
• The platform aggregates information on the delivery cost and speed of major third-party delivery services including Uber Eats, Postmates, Caviar and more. Consumers can access this data via FoodBoss's website or its mobile app. 
• In the blog post, FoodBoss CEO Michael DiBenedetto said the funds will enable his company — which currently serves close to 50 markets — to delve into urban territories and ramp up marketing. 

Dive Insight:

As the third-party delivery industry grows, it only makes sense for there to be a "Kayak of food delivery." Enter search engine FoodBoss. The 11-employee startup already has delivery information on over 50,000 restaurants in the U.S. and their delivery partners, including Postmates, Uber Eats, Grubhub, Delivery.com and DoorDash, depending on the market. This move could put pressure on the giants in this space, particularly Grubhub and DoorDash, which recently took the third-party delivery crown for most market share, to shave down their delivery times and offer more competitive delivery fees. 

Currently, FoodBoss has no known rivals, though TripAdvisor's partnership with DoorDash could grow into something more down the line. A capital infusion like this avails opportunities for young companies to secure their positions as leaders within their respective industries, but it could also draw attention to this untapped market and encourage competition. It will be interesting to see what delivery services FoodBoss adds over time — currently, the site doesn't offer any data on new leader DoorDash or independent-focused platforms like Chowbus or Slice. 

QSRs and delivery services alike could also use this site to their advantage by researching the alliances in an effort to win over customers by offering better deals. As more restaurant brands across categories team with third-party delivery services to drive growth, this model will become increasingly relevant. FoodBoss, and no doubt future entrants in this space, would be wise to experiment with other details they can provide to consumers to differentiate, such as listing mission-based initiatives from restaurants.