Egyptian food discovery and ordering startup elmenus has successfully closed a US$10 million pre-Series C funding round to expand its operations and convert its database of several million users to online ordering.
Founded in 2018 by Amir Allam, elmenus offers a comprehensive platform for restaurant information and food discovery in Egypt, providing personalised recommendations to users at the dish-level through its AI-powered food recommendation engine.
The startup has expanded rapidly and has so far helped more than 1.5 million users surf thousands of restaurants and order their favourite meals from a wide variety of menus. It now plans further expansion after raising a US$10 million pre-Series C round, led by Fawry, Luxor Capital and Marakez.
elmenus raised a US$8 million Series B funding round in early 2020, which it added to earlier this year with an investment from David Buttress, the former chief executive officer (CEO) of global food-ordering firm Just Eat.
With the new funding, elmenus plans on expanding operations and converting its database of several million users to online ordering. By the end of 2021, elmenus expects to empower 12,000 restaurants with new data and tool offerings to help them scale their businesses, across 20 Egyptian cities.
“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, helping them scale. This funding demonstrates investors’ strong belief in our position in Egypt, and our capability to dominate the market,” said Amir Allam.
Ashraf Sabry, Fawry’s chief executive officer (CEO), said his company was determined to go beyond the role of investor and act as a strategic partner.
“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 their riders. The Egyptian food space has high growth potential, with technology disrupting the status quo, as customers’ needs in food service provision rapidly change,” he said.
