Dubai-based cloud kitchen operator Sweetheart Kitchen, today announced the raise of €15 million ($17.7 million) in Series C funding, a round that is backed by “strategic investors” and led by the company’s own chief executive, Peter Schatzberg.

The strategic investor is likely to be Germany's Delivery Hero, which counts Sweetheart Kitchen as a subsidiary in its latest financial report (this means that Delivery Hero now owns more than 50 per cent of Sweetheart Kitchen). The funds will be used to fuel the cloud kitchen’s growth and optimise its food delivery supply technology.

“We invest most of our funding into supply chain technology, food design and hiring talent,” said Schatzberg. “This will continue into 2021, as we are just 15 months old and we are still perfecting our business model. Scaling units is certainly one important objective for us, but we are also investing in streamlining our processes and systems to achieve profitability. We look forward to even more milestones in this next stage of the company’s growth.”

Having previously raised €21 million and launched 30 brands, the company now plans to launch five additional brands, and have 12 units live in the UAE and seven units live in Kuwait by Q1, 2021 with more expansion in the pipeline into Saudi Arabia in the second half of 2021.

“We are excited to relaunch in Kuwait after the pandemic lockdown measures prevented us from scaling earlier this year. It’s a great market for delivery where product innovation is valued by the consumer. We plan on re-opening in January with seven kitchens and on covering over 75 per cent of Kuwait by the end of Q2-2021 with our new brands,” said Adib Samara, vice president of global brand and marketing at Sweetheart Kitchen.

The cloud kitchen space in the GCC is one of the fastest growing areas of the foodtech sector, fuelled by the high demand in food delivery in the region. 

*This article was updated 15 October 2020