GrubTech, a start-up platform that digitizes the back-end operations of restaurants and cloud kitchens based in the UAE, has expanded to Egypt, diversifying its regional operations.
Grubtech is a cloud and dark kitchen solutions platform founded in 2019 by Mohamed Al-Fayed, Mohamed Hamidi, and Omar Al-Refaie that enables its clients to digitize operations and management of online food orders.
The platform provides users with marketing and sales tools, as well as detailed data analyses for restaurants, helping to reduce expenses and catalyze business growth.
“I am so pleased to announce the launch of our operations in Egypt, which is one of the most important markets in the region. The food and beverages sector in Egypt is moving on in terms of digitization and growth,” said Al-Fayed, Co-Founder and CEO of Grubtech.
Al-Fayed stated that starting work with Grubtech in Egypt is part of the company’s operational expansion plan, noting that Egypt has a significant number of restaurants that offer online ordering and delivery, as well as e-payments via PoS systems.
Egypt has enormous potential, with a population of 103 million people and a median age of 25. According to Egyptian cloud kitchen services operator The Food Lab, Egypt’s restaurants have experienced rapid growth, with an estimated annual value of US$17 billion.
Cloud kitchens, also known as ghost kitchens, are commercial establishments that are specifically designed to prepare food for delivery, and they have benefited from the shift to online services during the coronavirus crisis.
They do not have a physical presence as a restaurant and instead provide delivery-only services from centralized premises via a mobile app.
According to Allied Market Research, the global cloud kitchen market will reach $71.4 billion by 2027, up from $43.1 billion in 2019.
GrubTech, for example, has seen increased business as the Covid-19 pandemic has pushed the food industry online and established new habits.
It collaborates with food delivery aggregators such as Talabat and Delivery Hero to serve delivery-only cloud kitchens, also known as dark or ghost kitchens.
GrubTech has raised a total of $18.4 million in funding, including $2 million in a seed round in 2020, $3.4 million in a pre-series A round in March of last year, and $13 million in a Series A round in December.
According to Al-Fayed, Grubtech intends to invest $5 million in the Egyptian market over the next 12-18 months, with the goal of using Egypt as a gateway to African markets.
With 140 employees and clients in 17 countries, the start-up now has offices in Egypt, Sri Lanka, Turkey, and the UAE.
GrubTech Egypt country manager Osama Harfoush told The National that the Cairo office plans to expand from 20 to 40 employees in the near future.