An industry increasingly built around ready-to-eat meals has taken off in the Middle East. refused. A sizeable injection of funds is expected to expand both What? It can offer its time-consuming customers. Where? Heat-to-eat dishes are on the rise.
The food delivery market in the Middle East will take a hit. $11.2 billion by 2030According to the report. from MarkNtel Advisors published last year.. Careem Food aggregators like Deliveroo and Talabat have established themselves by banking on the habits of busy professionals rather than cooking the meals themselves — fueling many. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Riyadh-based Calo focuses on weight loss; Differentiate by creating custom meal subscriptions for specialized segments like high-protein or balanced meals — targeting customers who care about what they eat, not just when their food will arrive.
People who want to gain muscle or suffer from diabetes. Diet customization is planned to be further implemented in the initiative to cater to the dietary needs of individuals with special needs such as IBS (Irritable bowel syndrome) or PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome). Calo's essence is that people who fall into these categories will pay a premium for food customization services that meet their convenience needs.
The company has faith in something, so it's in the process of acquiring an unnamed food startup in Britain next year to expand its footprint outside the Middle East.
To fund new growth slots, Calo has raised $25 million in Series B funding led by Nuwa Capital, with participation from Khwarizm Ventures and STV. Remarkably, all these investors return to investors.
Calo is now worth about $250 million, according to multiple sources who told TechCrunch.
Saudi Arabia, UAE Kuwait The startup, which operates in Qatar and Bahrain, offers customers breakfast, lunch time, Make healthy meal choices, including dinners and snacks — balanced, high in protein; Balanced, such as low-carb and filter foods. Vegetarian. Users can customize their meals and schedules and even skip days.
That approach has built momentum in the region: This year, Calo says, 10 million meals have been served at an average meal cost of $7 to $9.
In addition to the Series B round; Calo said it aims to close a $25 million expansion round in Q1 2025 and has a goal of going public within the next few years. So this could be his last fund before listing the company in Saudi Arabia. (By closing the Series B, Calo raised a total of $51 million in multiple rounds.)
“It's a powerful idea to offer meals that are nutritious, healthy, and customizable to your needs,” Khaled Talhouni, managing partner at Nuwa Capital, told TechCrunch on a call. “Whether you want to build muscle or lose weight, Calo customizes your meals to your liking, and that idea excites us.”
“The GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) market has a fancy way of ordering food. That's why companies like Talabat and Deliveroo are successful. In addition, Calo's logistics model is similar to that of bulk milk, which puts them at an advantage,” he said.
Calo was launched in Bahrain in 2019 by Ahmed Al Rawi. Before that, Al Rawi built another startup to let people book stadiums and join current games. He later advised startups in New York before starting Calo.
“Before building a startup, there were already startups like Careem, so I don't think there's much to do in food delivery. But we realized that a segment of customers wanted customized meals with a specific number of calories or ingredients, and the incumbents didn't offer that level of customization,” Al Rawi told TechCrunch over the phone.
A person's height weight age gender There are food recommendation services based on activity and activity. But they failed to provide real food, which was not suitable for busy professionals. So Al Rawi discovered another opportunity. Custom food delivery.
According to Calo, people are buying 30% more food on its service than on-demand food aggregators (such as Careem). It credits that stickiness for combining the convenience of food delivery, making it easy for consumers to find the right dish to meet their health goals.
The company operates one central kitchen in each city, using vans to deliver across cities with the help of small vans and individual riders. Per Al Rawi, Calo currently has 200 vans in the Middle East.
Customers receive their meals in a chilled state in the microwave or using their cooking pan. Not having multiple shipping centers and sticking to scheduled deliveries has helped keep its operations fast, the startup's founders said.
Roadmap to the future
In addition to opening the new sections mentioned above, Calo plans to introduce deeper personalization for users — for example; They want to eat protein, The exact portion of carbohydrates or fat can be specified or eliminated. An ingredient.
The startup is also experimenting with new business models such as retail food and on-demand delivery services in places like corporate offices.
Saudi Arabia currently represents 70% of Calo's revenue, followed by the UAE at 15%. However, Al Rawi told us that he expects the UAE to grow exponentially in the coming years.
This year, Calo had nine figures in annual revenue and was operating at a near-profit. The company aims to be profitable before going public next year.
“Because we are capital-efficient; We don't need to raise money and will grow organically. But we saw new growth opportunities. Therefore, to expand our business models; We raised the money mainly to fill segments and open new geographies that we serve,” added Al Rawi.