• UAE-based health snack brand Koala Picks, has raised AED1.5 million ($408,000) in its first external round of funding led by friends and family investors.
• Launched in October 2019 by Ahmed Mobasher, Aya Assaf and Omnia Abdelhalim, Koala Picks offers healthy juicing and snacks for children as well as educational activities where parents can learn about topics related to their children’s health. The Koala Picks team consists of an in-house nutritionist who inspects all ingredients and designs the menu.
• The new funding will allow Koala Picks to invest in its tech stack, grow its team and scale up operations by moving to a bigger facility.

Press release

Koala Picks, the healthy snack brand for children has raised AED1.5 million in their first external round of funding led by friends and family investors. With no institutional investor, all funding received has been injected into the company with no exits.

Launched in October 2019 by Ahmed Mobasher, Aya Assaf and Omnia Abdelhalim, Koala Picks was born out of a frustration at not being able to find healthy snacks for their own children. As parents, Aya, Ahmed and Omnia deeply believe that what our children eat impacts their health and development in the short and long term. With the easy access of unhealthy food that attracts children and ultimately make them crave, Koala Picks decided to create a platform to provide products that they wished they had for their own children, starting with healthy snacks and educational activities where parents can learn about topics related to their children’s health. The Koala Picks team also consists of an in-house nutritionist who inspects all ingredients and participates in menu development to optimise the nutritional profile and perfect all portion sizes.

Koala Picks plans on using the funding to expand the business which has already allowed them to scale up operations by moving to a bigger facility in June 2021. The new Koala Picks production space has given them 410m of extra space at 500sqm in comparison to their old facility of 90sqm. In addition, the brand will invest in new equipment to increase automation and minimise labour work, revamp their current website, expand the Koala Picks team, and upgrade their current packaging.

Ahmed Mobasher, co-founder of Koala Picks said: “The market is full of opportunities, and we are very excited to be investing in resources and creating new products to meet the demand. We’re all super optimistic for what the future holds, and we can’t wait to bring more innovative, nutritious snacks and products to the market.”