FOODICS, the F&B tech startup based in Saudi Arabia, has announced it has successfully raised US$20 million (SAR 75mil) in a Series B funding round led by Sanabil Investments, a firm wholly owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investments Fund (“PIF”), and co-led by STV. Other investors include Endeavor Catalyst, Elm &Derayah.
This new investment will enable FOODICS to grow its share in existing markets, accelerate its international expansion, as well as expand its Fintech offering.
Ahmad Al-Zaini, Co-Founder and CEO commented, “We are delighted to start the year on such a high note, having been able to gain the support and trust of such prominent investors. 2020 was a tough year during which we have proactively captured opportunities. We are very thankful to all our clients, investors and partners who have joined us on this journey so far, and look forward to more success together in the future. At FOODICS, human capital has always been a strategic competitive advantage, and this is even more important now as we upscale with this latest investment. By 2022, our goal is to have 500 employees, and we are actively seeking extraordinary talents to join our team and grow together”.
Mosab AlOthmani, FOODICS’ Co-Founder and CTO added, “This funding round marks another significant milestone on our journey. With FOODICS also officially recognized last month by the Saudi Central Bank (“SAMA”) as a FinTech company, this will allow us to further fast track our product development, particularly into Fintech for the Retail sector.”
Sanabil Investments commented, “We are excited to lead this round and partner with FOODICS as it grows and transitions to a fully integrated cloud-native payment and retail management platform. We view FOODICS as a key enabler to the accelerating retail digitization trends in the region.”
Ahmad AlNaimi, Partner at STV commented, “We are inspired by Foodics’ vision and what they have accomplished so far. The company is strategically positioned to become critical infrastructure for SMEs and a de facto platform to connect digital players with offline retailers. We’re excited to support Ahmad and Mosab and thrilled to join the other investors in this journey.”
Since inception, FOODICS has successfully processed over 5 billion orders through the platform, and over 50,000+ terminals while catering to over 10,000 F&B brands. This latest investment round brings the total funds raised by FOODICS so far to US$28mil (SAR 105mil).
This is the third major announcement for FOODICS in as many months. The tech start-up, which offers an all-in-one retail management platform helping retail and restaurant owners run their business, had recently announced its entry into the Egyptian market and that it had secured US$100 million (SAR 375mil) through Maalem Investments to further support Saudi retail merchants with Shariah-compliant micro loans.
