Burger Index, a food technology start-up based in Spain, raised $1.3 million in a seed-funding round led by Cairo-based venture capital company Flat6Labs to expand in the GCC.
Flat6Labs accelerated the start-up through its Ignite programme, an initiative held in collaboration with DisruptAD, the venture capital platform of Abu Dhabi's holding company ADQ.
The funding round also included F Capital, a regional growth accelerator, and Cosmin Manea, founding partner at Instashop, Burger Index said on Tuesday.
Founded in 2022, Burger Index provides food and beverage data analytics for restaurants, cloud kitchens, food brands and distributors, enabling companies to track everything that happens in the market in real time.
The start-up helps F&B businesses go to market faster by providing them with all the available data in any market and “minimises the risk of every decision”, it said.
“Without data analytics, we wouldn't be able to do anything any more,” said Wassim Berro, founder and chief executive of Burger Index.
“It's not a luxury, it's a necessity. You have to have it and if you don’t, you’re going to fall behind your competition.”
The start-up's clients include brands such as McDonald’s, Nestle, Reef Technology, Allo Beirut and Majid Al Futtaim.
“They use Burger Index to answer key questions like where should I open my next location? What shall I price my smash burger? What are the key take outs from my reviews? What salmon poke promotions are active right now? All industries need these kinds of actionable insights in real time,” Mr Berro said.
The global FoodTech industry is projected to reach $342.5 billion by 2027, from $220.3 billion in 2019, according to Emergen Research.
It is being driven by the growth of advanced technology in the food industry, with innovations in robotics, processing techniques and data technology creating new opportunities, the report said.
Burger Index is currently available in seven countries across Europe and the GCC.
The company said it will use the funding to expand its team and data coverage to include digital grocery services and supermarkets.
“Burger Index finds itself at the intersection of three exploding markets — data analytics, location-based services and restaurant tech, which is projected to reach $342 billion by 2027,” said Ryaan Sharif, general manager at Flat6Labs UAE.
“Our Ignite programme supercharged the company’s expansion outside of Spain, allowing it to set up operations in the GCC, and now, with our leadership of its round, the founding team can scale [up] globally.”
Flat6Labs, which manages several seed funds, with total assets under management of more than $85 million, provides investment ticket sizes ranging from $50,000 to $500,000 to start-ups.
“The F&B industry is highly competitive and moves extremely fast,” said Hisham Samawi, chief executive at F Capital.
“But collecting data in the F&B industry has always been a very manual process, which leads to business decisions on new products, pricing, promotions and locations taking weeks and months to action because the industry is very data-dark. Tools like Burger Index help businesses go to market faster.”
Founders: Ines Mena, Claudia Ribas, Simona Agolini, Nourhan Hassan and Therese Hundt
Date started: January 2017, app launched November 2017
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Private/Retail/Leisure
Number of Employees: 18 employees, including full-time and flexible workers
Funding stage and size: Seed round completed Q4 2019 - $1m raised
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, 500 Startups, Vision Ventures, Seedstars, Mindshift Capital, Delta Partners Ventures, with support from the OQAL Angel Investor Network and UAE Business Angels
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Stars:Robert Pattinson
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Rating: 5/5
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
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Key facilities
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- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
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- 600-seat auditorium
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- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
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Uefa Champions League, quarter-final, second leg
Where: Etihad Stadium
When: Tuesday, 10.45pm
Live on beIN Sports HD
Sole survivors
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Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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TERMINAL HIGH ALTITUDE AREA DEFENCE (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US's most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out ballistic missiles as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 150 kilometres above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then stationed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
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Tomorrow 2021
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Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
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Available: Now
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Liverpool 4
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Sanju
Produced: Vidhu Vinod Chopra, Rajkumar Hirani
Director: Rajkumar Hirani
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