$4.5 M pre-seed funding raised by Egyptian cloud kitchen startup The Food Lab
The Food Lab, an Egyptian cloud kitchen platform that offers restaurant owners services such as sourcing, cooking, delivery, data-driven insights and suggestions, and marketing, has secured a $4.5 million pre-seed round to help it grow across Egypt and into other markets.
The Food Lab, founded by Kareem El Daly, Ahmed Osman, and Wesam Masoud in 2020, has built a technological platform that offers restaurateurs end-to-end services.
The startup’s virtual brand consultant, which is powered by machine learning, offers restaurants with a data-centric dashboard that delivers advice for their brands in areas like as operations, finance, menu reengineering, marketing, supplier analysis, and more.
Nuwa Capital, Shorooq Partners, and 4DX Ventures led the US$4.5 million pre-seed round, which also included Saudi Arabia’s Al Faisaliah Group and Abdul Majeed Al Hokair, as well as Japan’s Samurai Incubate and other angel investors.
The cash will be utilised to expand across Egypt and to establish the groundwork for entry into Middle Eastern and African markets.
“Our mission is to bridge the gap between restaurants and consumers, and by building technology infrastructure, we are enabling the transformation of Egypt’s food and beverage industry. In large countries like Egypt, with restaurants and consumers spread out over distances, it is imperative for businesses to create an incredible customer experience irrespective of how small or far the consumers are,” said El Daly.
Shorooq Partners partner Tamer Azer said infrastructure was in his firm’s DNA.
“The Food Lab is first and foremost an infrastructure company that allows the restaurants we love, to grow and reach more people by giving them access to absolutely everything they need to succeed, from best-in-class ingredients to hard data that helps them serve their customers better. In Egypt’s increasingly more competitive food market, The Food Lab is the best success partner a restaurateur could ever want,” he said.
