Latest investment will help food delivery startup dominate Egypt – Elmenus CEO

Egyptian food delivery startup Elmenus today announced that it has secured an investment from Foodora co-founder and DeliveryHero VP Julian Dames.

Elmenus CEO Amir Allam (pictured above), who founded the startup in 2011, would not disclose the amount Dames invested in the startup in the deal which he said was concluded this week.

However, he told Ventureburn today that the investment will be used to ensure that his startup grows to dominate online ordering in Egypt, with a focus on food recommendations and reducing delivery times for Elmenus users.

As part of the deal, Dames will join the company’s board of advisors.

Elmenus was founded in 2011 by CEO Amir Allam

Elmenus claimed in in an earlier statement today that it has over one million monthly users. The startup has also built a platform which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to personalise food recommendations for users, using pre-collected data.

Commenting in the same statement, Dames described Elmenus as having a “compelling position” in the Egyptian food delivery market.

“Their delivery order numbers in the first few months have been very impressive,” said Dames.

He added that the mainly phone-based market is on the verge of going online.

“As a native Egyptian player with well-established positioning as the consumer’s go-to platform, and with strong ties in the restaurant sector, Elmenus will be able to focus on features that are relevant for the Egyptian user — from consumer to delivery rider to restaurants — which may prove advantageous against the global competitors,” added Dames.

Allam declined to disclose Elmenus’ average monthly order numbers. He however explained that the online food delivery platform, which has 130 employees, has over one million users and operates in 24 cities across Egypt.

“We are currently focusing on Egypt and eyeing Africa and Middle East next year,” he said.

In 2017, Elmenus raised $1.5-million in Series-A funding from Egyptian venture capital fund Algebra Ventures. Allam said the company is currently in the process of closing a Series-B round.

Featured image: Elmenus CEO and founder Amir Allam (Supplied)