The Egyptian food ordering and delivery startup, elmenus, has secured $10m in funding from several investors led by Fawry, a leading electronic payment (e-payment) platform. Fawry affirmed its investment in a minority stake in elmenus. The investment comes as part of the former's efforts to establish strategic partnerships with technology companies that have promising growth opportunities. The move aims to enhance ways of joint cooperation and achieve profits and the company's goal towards developing and supporting the growing digital ecosystem in Egypt. The food services market has witnessed rapid growth in recent years, in addition to potential expansion opportunities. These have been affected by several supporting factors, including demographics, economic conditions, and technology which have contributed to the promising growth opportunities. This strategy invests in consolidating the company's strong position in a sector characterized by promising growth. Elmenus was founded in 2011 as a food discovery platform and online food delivery service. It aims to help users discover restaurants and menus online, as well as providing information about contacts and addresses. In 2018, having launched the online ordering service and with more than 1.5 million monthly users, elmenus became the most comprehensive platform for restaurant information and food discovery in Egypt. In this way, Fawry will make the most of the role of the strategic investor in elmenus to contribute to supporting and encouraging the company's growth opportunities as well as developing the broader digital ecosystem in Egypt. Management has identified several opportunities to enhance avenues of cooperation between the two companies and Fawry's business lines. These opportunities include Fawry's digital payment platforms as well as a range of value-added digital services, and it is expected that there will be a positive return. Ashraf Sabry, CEO of Fawry, said, "Through our cooperation with the executive team of Elmenus, we look forward to achieving a successful partnership and implementing a number of projects." He added, "Through our investment in the elmenus platform, we affirm our support for the platform's expansion strategy, not only through the electronic payment solutions that Fawry provides to its customers and partners, but through a strategic cooperation that serves and supports the elmenus platform and its partners from restaurants and its pilots, as well as achieving the satisfaction of its users." Fawry always seeks to support promising sectors in the Egyptian market, such as the food delivery sector, which is witnessing great growth and investment opportunities, Sabry noted. This comes especially after the great shift in customer needs and in the form of providing services and its dependence on technology, which positively contributed to the growing demand for the Egyptian food market.
