George Karam, co-founder of The Cloud. (Credit: The Cloud)
BEIRUT — The Cloud, an Abu Dhabi-based startup, announced on Feb. 20, that they successfully raised $12 million in Series B funding, out of a total of $30 million it is seeking to secure.
Co-founded by Lebanese entrepreneur George Karam, The Cloud is a third-generation cloud kitchen, which helps underutilized restaurants cook on behalf of multiple brands. In a way, they turn restaurants into cloud kitchens.
“We hope to become the Airbnb of restaurants,” Karam tells L’Orient Today.
Mixed between debt and equity funding from different investors such MENA Moonshots and Aluna Partners, the money raised went in part towards the strategic acquisition of KBOX, The Cloud’s main competitor in the UK, adding 200 locations to their global portfolio.
This latest investment raised The Cloud’s total funding to $22 million, having initially raised $10 million in a Series A funding.
The company also intends to grow aggressively in Saudi Arabia, where they are already present across 45 cities, by growing their market share and position.
“We are also on the lookout for more opportunities to acquire other startups,” Karam tells L’Orient Today, and they hope to attract additional investors in the future.
Beyond the plan to expand its acquisition capacity, the startup plans to enhance its technology, improve its data set, introduce artificial intelligence (AI) to improve customer experience and increase traffic to its platform by collaborating with celebrities and social media influencers.
Currently present in seven countries and 91 cities, the company hopes to reach 8,000 locations by the end of 2027.