Saudi tech startup Foodics launches $100m fund for SMEs

Saudi Arabia’s F&B and retail tech startup Foodics has launched Foodics Capital, its micro lending arm.

The company raised a $100m micro loan fund to support Saudi F&B merchants post Covid-19 through Shariah-compliant micro loans.

“With cash flow being a critical pain point for small business owners right now, we wanted to be able to offer them a one stop shop that also covers their finance needs and enables them to accelerate their growth rate,” said Ahmad Al-Zaini, co-founder and CEO.

Abdullah Tahboub, Foodics’ CFO, added: “This fund is set to revolutionise SME lending, as it will enable faster and more flexible lending than most of the lending facilities in the region. Our application process is indeed straight forward, as all is completed online on our platform, with the initial approval to be granted within as little as 24 hours and final approval in seven days. Foodics Capital is able to extend loans from $5,000 (SAR18,750), up to $133,000 (SAR500,000) as and when needed by small businesses.”

In order to launch the fund, Foodics Capital partnered with Saudi Arabia-based Maalem Finance. The first phase will primarily benefit the company’s existing customers, who are pre-qualified, and will then be rolled out more widely across the kingdom before the end of the year.

“A finance offering was always part of our vision, in order to offer a true one stop platform for owners to manage their business. Foodics is indeed very proud to now allow merchants to finance their working capital by giving them access to Shariah-compliant micro loans through Foodics Capital,” the CEO added.

The company has so far serviced over five thousand customers and processed over a billion orders through the Foodics platform, totaling about $200m (SAR750m) monthly in GMV transactions in 2020 and catering to over 10,000 F&B outlets.

Having already established a strong presence in the kingdom and the UAE since its inception in 2014, Foodics entered Egypt last month, whilst also in the process of closing its series B funding round.