Saudi Arabia-based food and beverage (F&B) retail and restaurant management platform FOODICS, has raised $20 million in a Series B round, Led by Sanabil Investments and co-led by STV, with participation from Endeavor Catalyst, Elm and Derayah. This latest investment brings the total funds raised by FOODICS to date to $28 million. 

Founded in 2014 by Ahmad AlZaini and Mosab Al-Othmani, FOODICS offers an all-in-one point of sale (POS) solution management platform which helps restaurants and cloud kitchens run their business. The company currently caters to over 10,000 F&B outlets and has so far processed over 50,000 terminals and over five billion orders.

With the new capital infusion, FOODICS will be able to grow its share in existing markets, accelerate its international expansion, as well as expand its fintech offering.

“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,” said Ahmad AlZaini, co-founder and CEO of FOODICS.

The startup is keen to attract top talent to accelerate its product innovation and is aiming to onboard 500 employees by 2022, AlZaini added. 

The company has recently diversified into the fintech space, especially in the retail sector.  Last month, FOODICS was recognised by the Saudi Central Bank (“SAMA”) as a fintech company. In previous remarks to Wamda, AlZaini said that they plan to launch a micro-lending fund to help small retailers and SMEs receive loans.

FOODICS had secured $100 million (SAR 375 million) through Maalem Investments to further support Saudi retail merchants with Shariah-compliant micro-loans. In September,  FOODICS expanded to Egypt.

“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 digitisation trends in the region,” said Sanabil Investments.

Ahmad AlNaimi, partner at STV said: “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.”