- Series C funding led by Prosus and Sanabil Investments, with participation by Sequoia Capital India and existing investors
- Strategic funding to consolidate market leadership, drive service innovation, and grow internationally in the food and beverage software and payments sector
20 April 2022, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. FOODICS , the leading cloud-based technology and payments platform for restaurants in the MENA region, has successfully raised $170 million in a Series C funding round led by Prosus, one of the largest global technology investors in the world, and Sanabil Investments, a PIF-owned investment company focused on private growth investments in various stages of the business cycle. Other investors included Sequoia Capital India and existing investors including STV, Endeavor Catalyst and Vision Ventures.
FOODICS is a restaurant management and fintech ecosystem that empowers Food & Beverage (F&B) owners and merchants to run their operations more seamlessly and efficiently, thereby fast-tracking their own business growth in the process. Formally licensed as a Fintech company by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), it caters to every segment of the F&B sector from traditional dine-in restaurants, cafés, quick service restaurants, bakeries, food trucks through to cloud kitchens.
This latest round will support FOODICS’ regional and international expansion including its M&A strategy to increase market penetration. The company will also use the proceeds to launch and scale new initiatives around fintech, micro-lending and supply chain management, alongside boosting its innovation capabilities to better serve business owners. As part of its growth strategy, FOODICS will also expand into non-food micro-retail outlets as a new segment.
Ahmad Al-Zaini, FOODICS Co-Founder and CEO commented: “FOODICS has come a long way since our early days and we are proud to have been able to secure capital from premium international tech investors to further power our journey. This latest investment will enable us to accelerate the development of our end-to-end tech stack ecosystem to better support the F&B entrepreneurs and owners who make up the majority of our client community. We are thankful to our existing shareholders, Sanabil Investments, STV, Endeavor Catalyst and Vision Ventures for their trust in FOODICS, and welcome our new investors Prosus and Sequoia Capital India to the FOODICS family. We look forward to the exciting journey ahead together”.
Fahd Beg, Chief Operating Officer of Prosus Food, said “We believe restaurant-tech is an exciting opportunity within the food ecosystem with significant growth potential. FOODICS has already established a strong regional presence by leveraging its product vision, technical excellence, and brand. We look forward to partnering with the exceptional FOODICS team as they continue their expansion geographically and across adjacent verticals.”
Sanabil Investments spokesperson commented, “Sanabil is thrilled to back FOODICS, an emerging leader with strong ambitions to expand regionally and internationally. FOODICS has built strong brand recognition, unparalleled in the regional F&B market. We are excited to be part of the next phase of growth in enabling micro-retail businesses at the inter-section of digitization and fintech solutions. We look forward to supporting the company in realizing its full potential and unlocking new markets.”
Since its inception in 2014, Foodics has successfully processed over 5 billion orders through its platform. It also made its first acquisition last January, with the full ownership of POSRocket, the second largest restaurant Cloud technology provider in MENA, with further M&A activities and international expansion moves on the cards, including to countries in the APAC region.
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About FOODICS:
FOODICS is the leading Restaurant-Tech company in MENA, with a 360° SaaS ecosystem supporting its end-to-end digitization and making it a pioneer in the regional F&B industry. Formally licensed as a Fintech company by the Saudi Central Bank (SAMA), the company’s vision is to build a complete restaurant management ecosystem that enables owners to run their operations seamlessly and grow their business. Its mission is to empower restaurant and merchant owners with a comprehensive cloud-based POS system to enrich their operations. FOODICS caters to every segment of the F&B sector from traditional dine-in restaurants, cafés, quick service restaurants, bakeries, food trucks through to cloud kitchens and non-food micro-retailers. Since its inception in 2014, it has successfully processed over 5 billion orders through the platform, making it one of the most promising SaaS companies to emerge from the MENA region. For more information, please visit www.foodics.com
About Prosus:
Prosus is a global consumer internet group and one of the largest technology investors in the world. Operating and investing globally in markets with long-term growth potential, Prosus builds leading consumer internet companies that empower people and enrich communities. The group is focused on building meaningful businesses in the online classifieds, food delivery, payments and fintech, and education technology sectors. Through the Prosus team, the group invests in new technology growth opportunities within logistics, fintech, health, blockchain, social and ecommerce platforms, agriculture and more. The team actively backs exceptional entrepreneurs who are using technology to improve people’s everyday lives. Each month, more than 2 billion customers across the globe use the products and services of companies that Prosus has invested in, acquired or built. To find out more, please visit www.prosus.com.
About Sanabil Investments:
Sanabil is a financial investment company, wholly owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), with USD 8 billion in paid-up share capital. We commit more than USD 2 billion in capital per annum into global private investments that include VC/growth. We are a dynamic, nimble, and highly experienced team of investment professionals. We provide partners with patient capital, the ability to invest across multiple funding rounds, and access to the region. At Sanabil, we invest in great ideas, great minds, and great companies. For more information, please visit www.sanabil.com
About Sequoia Capital India:
Sequoia helps daring founders build legendary companies, from idea to IPO and beyond. Sequoia Capital India operates in Southeast Asia and India where we actively partner with founders from a wide range of companies, across categories, including BYJUs, Carousell, Druva, Gojek, OYO Rooms, Tokopedia, Truecaller, Zilingo, Zomato and more. We spur founders to push the boundaries of what’s possible. In partnering with Sequoia, startups benefit from nearly 50 years of tribal knowledge and lessons learned working with companies like Airbnb, Alibaba, Apple, Dropbox, Google, LinkedIn and Stripe early on. From the beginning, universities, endowments and other non-profits have been the backbone of our investor base, which means founders’ accomplishments make a meaningful difference. For more information on Sequoia’s work in India and SE Asia, visit – www.india.sequoiacap.com/
