Get All Access for $5/mo

Startup Spotlight: Dubai-Headquartered Grubtech Wants To Be The One-Stop-Shop For Cloud Kitchens' Omnichannel Food Requirements Functioning essentially as a commerce tool, grubtech helps restaurants and cloud kitchens efficiently manage their day-to-day operations.

By Aalia Mehreen Ahmed

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

You're reading Entrepreneur Middle East, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.

grubtech
Mohamed Al-Fayed, co-founder and CEO, grubtech, and Mohamed Hamedi, CTO, grubtech

This article was built in partnership with in5, an enabling platform for tech, media and design startups.

Through the course of the COVID-19 crisis, one of the few business models in the F&B industry that has remained relatively unscathed has been that of cloud or virtual kitchens. Now, cloud kitchens come with the reduced responsibilities of having no physical dine-in spaces, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its own management challenges- and it is precisely for this reason that Dubai-based startup grubtech was launched in 2019.

"We started this business having lived through the digital transformations of other sectors, mainly retail and groceries, and recognized that food was the next industry," says co-founder and CEO Mohamed Al-Fayed. "grubtech is an end-to-end platform for delivery-centric restaurants and cloud kitchens. Online food delivery is now a significant portion of all restaurants' revenues. But the legacy technology has not kept pace with this transformation, so we built a native omnichannel operating system automating the entire lifecycle of an order."

Functioning essentially as a commerce tool, grubtech helps restaurants and cloud kitchens efficiently manage their day-to-day operations by offering services such as an omnichannel point of sale (POS), integration with food aggregators, an interactive kitchen display system, and a customer management portal, among others. The startup also offers analytical tools that use artificial intelligence to help food business owners identify the latest food trends and conduct customer segmentation.

Grubtech team

"Given that we had a blank slate to work with, we were not bogged down with the constraints of legacy technology," explains Al-Fayed. "We built everything from the ground up using the latest technology stacks to create an entire platform covering every use case of our clients. We partnered with numerous best-of-breed applications and stitched each capability seamlessly and effortlessly to bring unprecedented capabilities to our clients."

While grubtech has already been providing its services to cloud kitchen operators in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and Pakistan, it also recently partnered with online food ordering company Talabat's cloud kitchen initiative. But that's not all- Al-Fayed reveals that grubtech is now looking to expand into the Asia-Pacific region and Europe as well. With the road ahead for cloud kitchens certainly looking bright, it seems safe to bet on grubtech's prospects as well- and we're certainly looking forward to its growth story.

Related: Startup Spotlight: Dubai-Based Startup Student10x Wants To Be A One-Stop-Shop For Student Supplies In The UAE

TREP' TALK: MOHAMED AL-FAYED, CEO AND CO-FOUNDER, GRUBTECH

Can you list what have been the biggest challenges and benefits while doing business in Dubai?

"If I reflect on some of our challenges, I would say that convincing some early investors that innovation can indeed be born in this region was hard. We have a stereotype of being followers or copying successful business models from abroad. But in grubtech's case, we truly believe we brought genuine innovation to the sector and are proud to have done so from the Middle East. Starting up in Dubai has been a seamless journey- from company formation, to hiring and onboarding the initial wave of talent. Dubai enjoys a powerful brand that makes it easy to attract top notch talent from all over the world."

Why did you choose your startup to be a part of in5, and what has been the biggest benefit that you have experienced through it?

"in5 has created an ecosystem of likeminded founders who have a common passion. It has given us the frameworks and removed a lot of the barriers from the foundational work that goes into building a startup. From subsidies on licensing costs, to office space to the numerous talks and subject matter experts they involve on a monthly basis, there is always someone you can ask for help."

What would be your advice to budding entrepreneurs, especially during the COVID-19 crisis?

"There is never a right time to take your leap of faith, it takes courage and grit to chart a path into the unknown. That's what makes the journey exciting and rewarding. If I was to share one lesson, it's to be obsessed with your idea to a fanatical level, you will face many bumps along the road, but that faith and grit will get you through any obstacle you will encounter."

Related: Due Diligence, Digitized: Dubai-Based Startup Diligend Is Working Towards Simplifying Decision-Making For Investors Through Its Centralized Platform

Aalia Mehreen Ahmed

Features Editor, Entrepreneur Middle East

Aalia Mehreen Ahmed is the Features Editor at Entrepreneur Middle East.

She is an MBA (Finance) graduate with past experience in the corporate sector, and was also co-founder of CyberSWIFTT- an anti-cyberbullying campaign that ran from 2017-2018 as part of the e7: Daughters of the Emirates program.

Ahmed is particularly keen on writing stories involving people-centric leadership, female-owned startups, and entrepreneurs who've beaten significant odds to realize their goals.

Entrepreneurs

The Recap: The Demo Day of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Innovation Fund Accelerator Program's Eighth Cohort

17 startups presented their ideas in front of a panel of regional investors, following which three startups emerged as the winners of the Demo Day.

Starting a Business

Saudi Unicorns: Makkah-Based Salla Aims To Become The Go-To Platform For All E-Commerce Needs In KSA And Beyond

"Today, we are extremely proud that Salla merchants have sold over SAR21 billion worth of products, and currently more than 55,000 thousand individuals, small and medium brands, and well-established enterprises trust us to help them run and grow their businesses."

Thought Leaders

10 TV Shows Every Entrepreneur Should Watch on Netflix

Have some free time on your hands? Get into one of these series.

Lifestyle

Taschen Books Joins The UAE Market

If you're looking to making an investment in art, do consider taking a look at Taschen's art books.

Business Ideas

87 Service Business Ideas to Start Today

Get started in this growing industry, with options that range from IT consulting to childcare.

Science & Technology

The Beginner's Guide to Understanding Data Science and Machine Learning

Learn the concepts of data science and machine learning, their special relationship and a few practical examples.