After a quiet year, Black and Mobile is going on an East Coast comeback tour

Food delivery startup Black and Mobile is planning a summer splash with a 60-city tour that follows a year of behind-the-scenes improvements. 

Founded in 2019 to connect residents with Black-owned restaurants in their cities, the Philadelphia-headquartered company already operates in Philly, Atlanta, Baltimore, New York and Los Angeles. 

Now it’s time to “activate” in more markets, Black and Mobile founder David Cabello told Technical.ly. After the tour, he’s aiming to hit $185,000 to $225,000 in annual recurring revenue — and grow from there.

“If we have options in every city [on the tour],” Cabello said, “and if we can generate an order a day, that’s putting us over $1 million.”

Currently, word of mouth is drawing new users from around the country. When many open the app, however, they find no listings local to their region. To change that, Cabello plans to spend the tour signing up new restaurants, hiring drivers, connecting with customers — and creating a lot of social content.

“TikTok has been huge for us. I used it for the first time last year … the numbers were crazy. Now, for seven months straight, we’re going to be posting every single day,” he said about the account, which currently sits around 10,000 followers. 

That potential growth in visibility could determine whether Black and Mobile starts raising capital. Once revenue hits about $30,000 to $40,000 monthly — as opposed to the current burn rate of $4,000 to $5,000 — Cabello said he’ll consider looking for investors.

“Being lean is keeping me away from getting scammed and trusting my family and although I’m going slower, I still own most of my company,” he said, instead of sharing ownership with an investor or risking getting pushed out.

The tour kicks off Aug. 1 in Trenton, New Jersey. From there, Cabello will travel to South Florida, then loop around to Houston, Minneapolis and dozens of cities in between. If all goes well, he plans a West Coast swing in 2026.

“Restaurants are just not going to sign up just because we’re a Black-owned delivery service,” Cabello said. “They got to see us doing the work in the community.”

A mission-driven origin

Black and Mobile began after Cabello, then a driver for food delivery apps like Postmates and Caviar, decided to build a platform that would circulate dollars within the Black community. He co-founded the business with his brother, Aaron Cabello.

In its first two years, the startup expanded to three cities, upgraded its app and even landed a cameo in the Pharrell Williams and Jay-Z music video “Entrepreneur.” 

The early success landed Black and Mobile a place on 2021 RealLIST Startups and Technical.ly’s 2020 Startup of the Year award.

Black and Mobile relaunched in 2022 with $10,000 it won in a contest hosted by the Black Innovation Alliance called the Back in the Black Tour. The next year, it launched a $1 million crowdfunding campaign to support its efforts and in 2024, it participated in Techstars’ spring 2024 cohort.

“What we’ve been seeing is that people would rather order through a Black-owned delivery service,” Cabello said, “because they feel like they’re making an impact.”

Turning hurdles into pillars of success

Black and Mobile’s growth hasn’t come without setbacks. Early internal personnel conflicts and getting caught in a couple scams slowed momentum. In its second year, the company refunded $400,000 due to a lack of drivers and tech infrastructure, per Cabello.

He’s now intentionally keeping the team lean. Black and Mobile relies on a crew of independent contractors to keep overhead low. The company will only consider more hiring as volume increases, according to Cabello.

Despite these constraints, wins continue to pile up. Since March, Black and Mobile has been listed alongside DoorDash and Uber Eats in Google search results for food delivery, which Cabello said boosted app downloads by over 50%.

Compared to the competition, however, “we’re not meant to be a cheap service,” Cabello said. “We’re definitely meant for the mission and the purpose.”

It’s also staying true to its Philly roots. Black and Mobile partners with Penn Medicine to deliver meals to vulnerable community members, and distributes 100 food bags to local middle schools each month.

For the founder, it’s always been about uplifting Black-owned businesses. He’s open to others replicating his approach, as long as they’re in it for the right reasons.

“I would never patent what I’m doing,” Cabello said, “because I want people to go help Black people.”