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Just Eat UK’s former chief executive officer (CEO) is investing into one of the promising start-ups in the Middle East and North Africa, food delivery app Elmenus.
David Buttress has also joined the board of the Egyptian company, which is looking to scale up its business and hire 4,000 new drivers in the next 18 months.
Buttress had led food-ordering company Just Eat in making global acquisitions and investments, including the acquisition of MenuLog in Australia for $855 million and taking a majority stake in Brazil’s IFood. He had also led the UK firm from a start-up to becoming Europe’s largest technology IPO in just a decade.
Elmenus did not disclose the amount of investment from Buttress, but it said that the latter’s “insights and exceptional record” will play an important role in accelerating the company’s growth.
Industry veteran
“I believe David’s insights and exceptional record will play a vital role in accelerating our growth and guiding Elmenus in acquiring a significant share of the market. We are very excited to be working with an industry veteran like David,” said Amir Allam, CEO of Elmenus.
Buttress noted that Elmenus’ performance this past year has been “quite remarkable”, having tripled its growth in 2020 on the back of changing market dynamics due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“While Elmenus witnessed a three times growth in 2020 since delivery increased drastically in light of the COVID-19 challenges and more restaurants outsourced their delivering operations, the company is expected to grow ten times in 2021, as it upscales its product and restaurant offerings,” he said.
Elmenus launched its online ordering service in 2018 and to date, it has more than 1.5 million monthly users on its platform. Last year, it raised a total of $9.5 million during two funding rounds.
According to Statista, the revenue in the online food delivery segment in Egypt is estimated to reach $145 million by 2024, up from the forecast $99 million revenue for this year. The restaurant delivery business represents the largest segment, with a projected market volume of $64 million in 2021.
(Writing by Cleofe Maceda; editing by Seban Scaria)
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© ZAWYA 2021
