Egypt’s OneOrder, a logistics tech start-up catering to local restaurants, has launched after completing a 1 million funding round, led by A-15, a MENA venture capital firm.
Founded in October 2021, OneOrder offers B2B solutions to Egyptian restaurants’ “suboptimal” supply chain, according to a statement.
"Given Egypt’s flourishing restaurant industry and the challenges it faces caused by a fragmented supply chain, OneOrder offers a much needed technology-enabled solution at the perfect time,” said founder and CEO Tamer Amer, who previously set up two of Egypt’s successful restaurant chains, Fuego Sushi and Longhorn Texas BBQ.
“My experience in the food and beverage industry means I know what restaurant owners need; it is a reliable, timely supply of quality goods, at a consistent price – without the stress of managing various suppliers on a daily basis,” he added.
With its app, OneOrder is creating a platform that aggregates small and fragmented supplies and vendors of meat, vegetables, equipment, etc., and makes them available to Egypt’s nearly 300,000 restaurants. Amer said his solution addresses a plethora of challenges, including inconsistent and non-transparent pricing, unreliable quality of supplies and irregular delivery timing.
Amer told Zawya the company’s first fundraise will be used to further bolster the company’s tech team and add custom devices and equipment to streamline warehouse operations.
In recent years, the tech-based optimization of the food and beverage supply chain in Egypt has caught the attention of entrepreneurs as well as investors. The market has seen the emergence of several startups that seek to enhance food delivery and distribution to consumers, as well as businesses.
Some of those startups made headlines by securing funds that ran into eight figures from local, regional as well as international investors. Last year, Breadfast, a bakery and grocery delivery startup raised $26 million in a Series A funding round, led by Vostok New Ventures and Endure Capital. Also in 2021, MaxAB, a B2B e-commerce platform serving food and grocery retailers secured $40 million in a Series A round, led by RMBV.
“I’m very excited about the future as our market opportunity is huge. Egypt and the wider region are booming economically, and the food & beverage sector is only growing larger,” said Amer.
According to the US government- affiliated Global Agricultural Information Network, Egypt’s Hospitality/food services sector generated $13 billion in revenues in 2019.
Amer said his business model targets all types of eateries, away from home establishments, as well as hotels and hospitals.
“The app is live. We have a waiting list that we onboard as we go to ensure proper service and guarantee product availability for now, but we will pick up the pace tremendously in the next couple of months to meet the demand,” Amer told Zawya.
OneOrder hopes to eventually expand in other MENA countries.
(Reporting by Noha El Hennawy; editing by Brinda Darasha)
