Egyptian Food Delivery Platform Elmenus Raises $10 Million

Cairo-based food discovery, ordering, and delivery platform Elmenus has raised $10 million in fresh funds (pre-Series C), from leading Egyptian payments firm Fawry, it announced in a statement today. New York-based hedge fund Luxor Capital, and Egyptian property developer Marakez, also participated in the deal. Luxor has previously backed companies like Zomato, Glovo, and GoPuff. Elmenus is their first investment in the Middle East. The round takes the total capital raised to date by the Egyptian startup to about $20 million.

Founded in 2011 by Amir Allam, Elmenus helps people discover and order food from over 12,000 restaurants in Egypt. The startup had originally started as a food discovery platform and expanded into delivery with its own fleet, a little over eighteen months ago. Its food ordering business has grown over 4 times (year-over-year) in the last year, Amir told MENAbytes, adding that they’ve also achieved gross profitability. He said that they’ve been able to do this because of the strong foundation provided by their food discovery platform. The platform currently serves 1.5 million users in Egypt.

In a statement, commenting on the investment, Amir, said, “Attracting new investment from Fawry, Luxor Capital and Marakez – following the endorsement of industry veteran, David Buttress, earlier this year – validates Elmenus’ unique strategy. We are accelerating the adoption of online ordering by users while enabling restaurants with new verticals – to help them scale. This funding demonstrates the investors’ strong belief in our position in Egypt, and our capability to dominate the market.”

The investment by Fawry, per statement, is part of their new strategy to acquire minority stakes in fast-growing Egyptian startups. The company will work closely with Elmenus to develop solutions for restaurants and consumers in Egypt, noted the statement without sharing the specifics.

Ashraf Sabry, CEO of Fawry, said, “Fawry is looking forward to its journey with Elmenus, working closely with the executive team and entering many ventures together. By this investment, we show our desire to not only be a payment catalyst but to be a strategic partner to Elmenus, its customers, restaurants, and its riders. The Egyptian food space has high growth potential, with technology disrupting the status quo, as customers’ needs in food service provision rapidly change.”

Elmenus aims to use the funds to expand to more cities in Egypt and personalize the ordering and delivery experience for its customers. A part of the money will also be used different tools to help restaurants scale.

Originally by menabytes.com