CaterCow expands its marketplace with new bidding features, launches in SF, LA and Boston

After graduating from ER Accelerator, debuting its online catering marketplace locally and signing up more than 400 caterers, New York-based CaterCow is launching in San Francisco, LA, Orange County (CA) and Boston.

CaterCow first launched last year to solve the “frustrating back and forth of traditional catering” with a simply-priced directory of nearby catering options. In New York, for example, you can order a Frozen Banana Stand for $5 per person (there’s always money in the…), while a Luke’s Lobster Picnic Party will set you back $23 per person at a $1,495 minimum. In other words, there are a variety of pre-prepared options.

In addition to expanding beyond New York, CaterCow is releasing a bidding system, letting event hosts post custom requests in addition to selecting fixed packages like the two listed above. These requests can then be bid on by multiple caterers.

According to CaterCow co-founder Carly Chamberlain, the company’s bidding system is now available across the US. If there aren’t any caterers available nearby “to fill your needs” — the service also has a small number of offerings across Chicago, Seattle, Portland and Denver — they’ll find you one.

The Big Picture

CaterCow is currently bootstrapped by its founders, having received no outside funding aside from the $25,000 raised through the ER Accelerator. Chamberlain tells us, however, that this may soon change: “[the company is] most likely going to raise a seed round in the near future.”

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CaterCow isn’t alone in this space; services like Cater2.me (which we covered here) and ZeroCater work directly with startups in particular to provide catering services. Even ordering services like Seamless have catering options, although in our experience their offerings are slim. Munchery and Kitchit are also noteworthy players, but CaterCow’s marketplace model helps it stand out.

➤ CaterCow

Image credit: Thinkstock