Entrepreneur of the Year 2024: Randy Wu is eating away the competition with Fantuan’s food delivery service

THE KICKOFF: When Randy Wu was studying economics at SFU, he was deeply homesick. And while there are many Chinese restaurants in Metro Vancouver, Wu had trouble finding what he describes as “authentic” Chinese cuisine—not because it didn’t exist, but because such restaurants were rated low or not appearing on searches.

Entrepreneurship was not necessarily a part of his plan—he was just trying to discover food that tasted like home and help other immigrants do the same. When he started ruminating on what a delivery service that specifically caters to Asian communities abroad could look like, he decided the final product would have to be simpler and more user-friendly than apps like Uber Eats.

The result was Fantuan, a takeout platform that Wu launched  in 2014 to connect customers with local restaurants.

ACTION PLAN: Instead of developing a website or a standalone app, Wu opted to create a “mini  app” that could be integrated into WeChat (China’s leading social media platform) as a plugin. “That way, you don’t need to download any new apps, you just need to follow the account and order,” Wu says.

This approach made it easier for Chinese customers to access Fantuan’s services (which are offered in Mandarin, Cantonese, French and English) and for Fantuan to accumulate customers. “No one had done that before—it was new stuff in 2014.”

For Wu, keeping Fantuan’s platform easy to use has been a priority. “When you look at a menu on Uber Eats, it’s going to describe all the ingredients, and when you press the ‘add’ button, it’s going to drop to another page, make you [review and fill out more information] and press ‘add to cart’ again,” he says. “We never do that. [With Fantuan], if  you want to add, you press add.  It’s simple. We think about saving steps for customers.”

Customer service was another important factor. While resolving problems on other apps can be a painstaking process, Fantuan makes it easy for customers to reach out for help—“we get back to you in one or two minutes,” says Wu. You can call or chat, and agents will edit, cancel or update orders for you in real time. “This user habit is very familiar for Asian or Chinese people.”

Today, the Fantuan platform has a variety of restaurants (not just Chinese ones) and an AI-driven ranking and recommendation system. Wu continues to develop new arms of the business that can serve the Chinese community in different ways—from delivery to marketing  to household services.

“We want to build a super platform,” he says. “The community is our target, not food delivery.”

CLOSING STATEMENT: Burnaby-based Fantuan offers food delivery in 90 cities across Canada, Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. With a global team of around 500 employees (80 of whom work from the Burnaby headquarters), Wu estimates that his platform has amassed 3.6 million registered users, 75,000 restaurant partners and 80,000 driver partners.

Since 2018, Fantuan has raised over US$90 million, some of which was used to acquire Chicago-based food delivery company Chowbus. In 2020, Wu launched an English app to expand Fantuan’s reach, and he plans to target more countries that Chinese students/immigrants often move to, such as Singapore and Japan.

“As a business leader, you should be always thinking about how to lead the business to the next step,” Wu says. “Dream big—it’s very important.”

Q+A

What’s the best leadership advice you’ve ever received?

Do the little but right things every day.

What’s an odd job you’ve had?

Delivery guy.

Do you have any embarrassing obsessions?

Fishing.

How do you celebrate your achievements?

Good food and wine with teams and families.