OneOrder, a new logistics startup addressing supply chain inefficiencies in Egyptian restaurants, has announced its launch and successful completion of a $1 million campaign. The fundraise was led by A15, the top MENA venture capital firm, and known as one of the most notable backers of early-stage startups in the area.
“We are delighted to announce our launch and fundraise, and I thank A15 for their outstanding support. 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. 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. We believe restaurants should be focussed on delivering a high-quality experience and service to their customers without having to worry about sourcing and procurement. We are the platform to deliver that. 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,” Tamer Amer, founder and CEO of OneOrder, said.
Moataz Abdelrahman, who is now the Coca-Cola General Manager for Egypt, Libya, and Sudan, has joined OneOrder’s Board of Directors. He has a diverse background in marketing, business development, and operations, having worked in over 17 markets with over 200 million people.
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Karim Hassan, the current CEO of Ankh, will also join the board as a non-executive Chairman of the board. Karim has 20 years of expertise in investment and operations in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East.
The company will be able to extend its geographical footprint as well as strengthen its product development with the new financing.
Why The Investors Invested
Investors were encouraged by the previous experiences of team. Along with founder Tamer Amer, OneOrder’s executive team has a strong track record in the food and beverage industry. Karim Maurice serves as a co-founder and Chief Technology Officer. Mr. Maurice developed Cube, Egypt’s version of OpenTable, the global online restaurant reservation service, as well as Bitroot, an early-stage enterprise “CTO-as-a-Service.”
“We are excited to partner with Tamer to solve one of the main challenges the Food & Beverages industry faces in the MENA region. By leveraging Tamer’s extensive experience as a successful restauranteur and A15’s history of building scalable technology platforms, we will aim to provide restaurants in the region with reliable, convenient and timely supplies that are consistently priced,” Karim Beshara, General Partner at A15, said.
A Look At What The Startup Does
OneOrder is Egypt’s first logistics company, addressing the huge inefficiencies in the sourcing of supplies experienced by Egypt’s restaurants. Tamer Amer, the founder of Fuego Sushi and Longhorn Texas BBQ, two of Egypt’s most successful restaurant businesses, founded it.
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OneOrder is building a platform to address a major structural issue that Egyptian restaurants face: working on a regular basis with a variety of tiny, fragmented suppliers and vendors from whom they get meat, vegetables, and equipment. This inefficient supply chain structure results in (i) inconsistent and opaque pricing, (ii) unpredictable quality that is passed on to restaurant customers, and (iii) erratic delivery schedule, with supplies frequently arriving late, limiting restaurants’ daily menu selections.
The OneOrder platform allows Egyptian restaurants to purchase all of their supplies from a single application, ensuring consistent quality, pricing, and delivery.
OneOrder has a large market opportunity. There are around 45,000 licensed restaurants in Egypt, but there are as many as a quarter of a million unregistered restaurants that are all operating and using supplies. The whole Food & Beverage (“F&B”) / Hospitality market in Egypt was estimated to be $13 billion by the US Department of Agriculture in 2019, and OneOrder expects that amount to have expanded significantly since then.
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Market forces are also enticing. According to the latest analysis from Fitch Ratings, a global ratings organization, Egypt’s GDP would increase by 5.3 percent between 2021 and 2023, owing to strong private consumption and rising tourism. Egypt is also developing new cities, such as New Alamein, and growing hotels and commerce around the country, all of which is good for the food and beverage industry.
Similar restaurant supply chain inefficiencies exist in other MENA nations, and OneOrder hopes to expand its offering geographically across the region over time.
OneOrder logistics OneOrder logistics
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer