Dubai based cloud kitchen company, Kitopi, raised $415 million in a new funding round led by SoftBank, that will help it expand operations in the Middle East and support its entry into Southeast Asia as the coronavirus pandemic increases demand for online food delivery services.
SoftBank group’s Vision Fund 2 led the funding round which also attracted Chimera, Abu Dhabi’s DisruptAD, US based B Riley, Turkey’s Dogus Group, Next Play Capital and Nordstar, Kitopi said in a statement on Thursday. The deal is the first investment by Vision Fund 2 in a UAE registered company.
The latest investment from SoftBank and others is “not only a great commitment to our company but to the industry and the region,” Mohamad Ballout, chief executive and co-founder of Kitopi said. “Our focus now is to expand our presence within the Middle East and to Southeast Asia while continuing to innovate and pioneer in the cloud kitchen space.”
Cloud kitchens or ghost kitchens, are commercial establishments built to prepare food specifically for delivery and they have benefited from the shift to online services during the coronavirus crisis. They have no physical presence as a restaurant, and offer delivery-only services from a centralised location through a mobile app.
The size of the global cloud kitchen market stood at about $43.1 billion in 2019 and is expected to grow at an annual rate of 12 per cent to reach $71.4bn by 2027, according to Allied Market Research.
Kitopi operates more than 60 cloud kitchens across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain.
Founded in 2018, by Mr Ballout, Saman Darkan, Bader Ataya and Andres Arenas, the company has more than 2,500 employees currently. It is partnering with a number of restaurants and food and beverage brands across the region to serve customers.
“Constraints placed on the hospitality sector by the global pandemic have rapidly catalysed the value proposition of cloud kitchens for customers and restaurant brands,” Faisal Rehman, managing partner for SoftBank Investment Advisers, said. "We believe Kitopi’s proprietary technology is changing the unit economics of food delivery in providing more choice to more customers, in more places.”
The company’s smart kitchen operating system is a suite of applications that optimises the performance of its cloud kitchen to serve customers in a better way, according to the company.
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7.10pm: The View at the Palm - Handicap (TB) Dh85,000 (Dirt) 1,400m
7.45pm: Nakeel Graduate Stakes - Conditions (TB) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m
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9.30pm: The Palm Tower - Handicap (TB) Dh87,500 (T) 1,600m
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1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
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2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
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6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
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Heavily-sugared soft drinks slip through the tax net
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Badr Organisation: Seen as the most militarily capable faction in the Hashd. Iraqi Shiite exiles opposed to Saddam Hussein set up the group in Tehran in the early 1980s as the Badr Corps under the supervision of the Iran Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC). The militia exalts Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei but intermittently cooperated with the US military.
Saraya Al Salam (Peace Brigade): Comprised of former members of the officially defunct Mahdi Army, a militia that was commanded by Iraqi cleric Moqtada Al Sadr and fought US and Iraqi government and other forces between 2004 and 2008. As part of a political overhaul aimed as casting Mr Al Sadr as a more nationalist and less sectarian figure, the cleric formed Saraya Al Salam in 2014. The group’s relations with Iran has been volatile.
Kataeb Hezbollah: The group, which is fighting on behalf of the Bashar Al Assad government in Syria, traces its origins to attacks on US forces in Iraq in 2004 and adopts a tough stance against Washington, calling the United States “the enemy of humanity”.
Asaeb Ahl Al Haq: An offshoot of the Mahdi Army active in Syria. Asaeb Ahl Al Haq’s leader Qais al Khazali was a student of Mr Al Moqtada’s late father Mohammed Sadeq Al Sadr, a prominent Shiite cleric who was killed during Saddam Hussein’s rule.
Harakat Hezbollah Al Nujaba: Formed in 2013 to fight alongside Mr Al Assad’s loyalists in Syria before joining the Hashd. The group is seen as among the most ideological and sectarian-driven Hashd militias in Syria and is the major recruiter of foreign fighters to Syria.
Saraya Al Khorasani: The ICRG formed Saraya Al Khorasani in the mid-1990s and the group is seen as the most ideologically attached to Iran among Tehran’s satellites in Iraq.
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In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
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