Egypt’s Food Delivery Startup Elmenus Secures Backing from Uber’s Careem

Egyptian food-delivery startup Elmenus secured an undisclosed investment from Uber-owned ride hailing and food-delivery platform Careem, which is headquartered in Dubai and operates in over 100 cities across 15 countries, including the Middle East, Africa and South Asia regions.

Careem is among the biggest brands to put money into the growth possibilities of Egypt, which is the most populated country of the 22 nations that make up the Arab world, Bloomberg reported on Monday (Feb. 28).

See also: World Bank Backs Egypt’s $50M Venture Capital Program

Elmenus operates across five cities in Egypt and works with over 12,000 restaurants. Careem co-founder and CEO Mudassir Sheikha said in a statement that partnering with Elmenus grows its own reach in “one of our largest ride-hailing markets.” The move also brings Careem closer to its goal of introducing a super app in the region.

Careem’s planned UAE super app would offer 11 services, which would include ride-hailing, food and grocery delivery, and payments, according to the report. Currently, Careem delivers food in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Jordan, Pakistan and Qatar.

Headquartered in Dubai, Careem is a vehicle-for-hire firm that operates in over 100 cities in 15 countries across the Middle East, Africa and South Asia regions. The company was acquired by Uber in 2020 for $3.1 billion.

Read more: Uber’s Careem Looks to Hire Over 200 Staff to Debut Super App

Founded by Amir Allam in 2011 as a food directory, Elmenus revamped in 2018 by adding a fully automated online ordering and delivery service. The company is striving to be a comprehensive food discovery platform where users share photos and details about the different dishes they explore. Previous backers in Elmenus include Egyptian payment firm Fawry and David Buttress, the former CEO of Just Eat, who is on the board of Elmenus.

With more than 100 million people, Egypt’s food delivery market is reportedly worth an estimated $2.8 billion, according to Careem’s statement. Yet, 90% of customers still place delivery orders for food and everyday essentials over the phone.