How GrubTech and Geidea Partnership will ensure Seamless Payment Options for Egyptian Cloud Kitchens
GrubTech, a UAE-headquartered end-to-end SaaS platform that enables its clients to digitize operations and management of online food orders and provides them with data to help streamline expenses, has announced a partnership agreement with Geidea, a Saudi-based provider of electronic payment systems and financial technologies to the banking sector, retail and wholesale, food and beverage, hospitality, and healthcare.
This partnership will enable GrubTech to realize its plans to invest $5 million in Egypt over the next 12 to 18 months, as it seeks to make the Arab world’s third largest economy its springboard for Africa expansion, according to the company’s statement during its launch in Egypt in May this year.
“I am thrilled to be launching our operations in Egypt, which is one of the most important markets in the region,” said Mohamed Al Fayed, co-founder, and CEO of GrubTech.
“There are a large number of restaurants in the local market serving a large segment of the country’s population, which presents an excellent opportunity for GrubTech to serve its clients by providing an easy-to-use integrated system,” he added.
This collaboration will provide additional value and new benefits to GrubTech customers in the Egyptian market.
Osama Harfoush, country manager of GrunTech Egypt, and Ahmed Magdy, head of commercials at Geidea, signed the contract in the presence of Mohamed Al Fayed, founder, and CEO of GrubTech, and Ahmed Nader, general manager of Geidea in Egypt.
A Breakdown of the Partnership and Stakeholders’ Reactions
GrubTech CEO and Founder, Mohamed Al Fayed stated in a statement following the signing that the deal is part of the company’s plan to expand by forming significant business alliances with the major important players in the MENA region’s food and beverage (F&B) market.
“This partnership will begin in Egypt, and it is planned to expand to other countries where GrubTech operates, including MENA, Asia, and Africa,” Al Fayed said.
While Ahmed Magdy, Geidea’s head of commercials, stated that the company’s mission is to provide all merchants and business owners with cutting-edge payment solutions that support the expansion and management of their businesses.
“We hope to expand our operations in the F&B sector by introducing cutting-edge e-payment solutions through our collaboration with GrubTech.” “With accelerating digital transformation, the cloud kitchens and restaurants sector is notably growing in Egypt, providing us with a significant opportunity to provide an all-in-one operating system that simplifies the process for our clients,” said Magdy.
The contract, according to GrubTech’s country manager for Egypt, represents a significant step in GrubTech’s plan to develop a system that ties in with its goals to develop a platform that includes all of the solutions that the local market’s cafes and restaurants require.
“Tech solutions GrubTech provides benefit its clients by easing selling and purchasing transactions, tapping digital transformation policy that all institutions around the world recently adopted to achieve sustainable development goals by 2030,” Harfoush said.
Ahmed Nader, Geidea’s general manager in Egypt, expressed his satisfaction with the collaboration with GrubTech, one of the leading producers of technological solutions and a pioneer in cloud-based management systems for restaurants and kitchens.
“This agreement is an imperative action for Geidea to expand in the F&B market that is growing rapidly in Egypt. It will enable cafe and restaurant owners to work more efficiently while providing a better experience in terms of online food delivery. It will also help the business owners increase sales through utilizing multifarious trademarks via a single window in an easy way”, Nader stated.
Cloud Kitchen and the Opportunities for GrubTech
Cloud kitchens, also known as ghost kitchens, are commercial establishments that are specifically designed to prepare food for delivery, and they have benefited from the shift to online services during the coronavirus crisis. They do not have a physical presence as a restaurant and instead provide delivery-only services from centralized premises via a mobile app.
According to Allied Market Research, the global cloud kitchen market will reach $71.4 billion by 2027, up from $43.1 billion in 2019.
Egypt has enormous potential, with a population of 103 million people and a median age of 25. According to a report, Egyptians spend about 30% of their income on food in a $17 billion restaurant industry, one of the largest in Africa and the Middle East.
About GrubTech
GrubTech, a platform founded in 2019, provides technological solutions to manage restaurants and cloud kitchens to automate operations and manage food delivery online.
Along with comprehensive restaurant data analyses, GrubTech also provides sales and marketing solutions to help restaurants work more efficiently and effectively.
Geidea is now the preferred option for Egyptian retailers looking for the quickest and easiest e-payment solutions.
For the first time, Geidea provides a distinct and integrated solution to the local market, allowing it to capture a sizable market share in Egypt’s e-payments.
GrubTech announced last year that it had successfully raised a $13 million Series A investment led by Addition. B&Y Ventures and Hambro Perks Oryx Fund were among the other investors in the round.
About Geidea
Geidea is a leading and fully licensed payment service provider that provides digital banking technology, Point-of-Sale (POS) Terminals, and business management solutions to both financial institutions and small businesses in retail and digital commerce. Abdullah Faisal Al-Othman founded Geidea in 2018 to provide merchants of all sizes with the tools they need to start, manage, and grow their businesses, beginning from the home front, in Saudi Arabia.
The company believes that the most advanced payment and commerce technology should be accessible, affordable, and simple to use for everyone. Geidea, based in Riyadh, has over 1000 employees and over 139,000 merchants, and supports over 700,000 payment terminals and ATM networks in the Kingdom, accounting for 70% of the market. The company is rapidly expanding branches in several GCC countries, including the UAE and Egypt, with additional locations planned for 2022.