Foodics, a Riyadh-based technology start-up servicing the retail and food and beverage industries, rolled out a $100 million micro loan fund on Tuesday to support small and medium-sized enterprises.
A new lending arm, Foodics Capital, will support the kingdom’s F&B merchants in the post-Covid-19 era through Sharia-compliant micro loans, it said in a statement.
It will extend loans of between $5,000 and $133,000, depending on the requirements of its customers.
“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,” Ahmad Al-Zaini, co-founder and chief executive of the company, said.
“A finance offering was always part of our vision … Foodics is very proud to now allow merchants to finance their working capital by giving them access to loans,” he added.
Foodics Capital has joined forces with Saudi Arabia-based Maalem Finance, a provider of Sharia-compliant consumer and SME financing.
The first phase of the fund, which has been approved by the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority, will be offered to existing Foodics customers, who are pre-qualified for loans, the statement said. It will be rolled out across the kingdom by the end of this year.
The fund will allow for "faster and more flexible lending than most of the facilities in the region”, according to Abdullah Tahboub, chief financial officer of Foodics.
Interested SMEs can apply online. The initial approval will come within 24 hours, while final consent will be granted within seven days, Mr Tahboub said.
Founded in 2014, Foodics offers a restaurant management platform that helps owners to run their business more efficiently. It has serviced more than 5,000 customers and processed over one billion orders through its platform, through which about $200m of transactions measured by gross merchandise value are generated each month.
The company has offices in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt, and is currently in the process of closing a series B funding round.
It raised $4m in pre-Series B funding from Riyad Taqnia Fund, Tech Invest Com, Naseel Holding and Kuwait-based Faith Capital last year. It also raised $4m in an earlier Series A funding round in 2017.
Foodics is currently available in English, Arabic and French and the company is planning to release a Spanish version of its software in the coming months.
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Pots for the Asian Qualifiers
Pot 1: Iran, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, China
Pot 2: Iraq, Uzbekistan, Syria, Oman, Lebanon, Kyrgyz Republic, Vietnam, Jordan
Pot 3: Palestine, India, Bahrain, Thailand, Tajikistan, North Korea, Chinese Taipei, Philippines
Pot 4: Turkmenistan, Myanmar, Hong Kong, Yemen, Afghanistan, Maldives, Kuwait, Malaysia
Pot 5: Indonesia, Singapore, Nepal, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Guam, Macau/Sri Lanka
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
What drives subscription retailing?
Once the domain of newspaper home deliveries, subscription model retailing has combined with e-commerce to permeate myriad products and services.
The concept has grown tremendously around the world and is forecast to thrive further, according to UnivDatos Market Insights’ report on recent and predicted trends in the sector.
The global subscription e-commerce market was valued at $13.2 billion (Dh48.5bn) in 2018. It is forecast to touch $478.2bn in 2025, and include the entertainment, fitness, food, cosmetics, baby care and fashion sectors.
The report says subscription-based services currently constitute “a small trend within e-commerce”. The US hosts almost 70 per cent of recurring plan firms, including leaders Dollar Shave Club, Hello Fresh and Netflix. Walmart and Sephora are among longer established retailers entering the space.
UnivDatos cites younger and affluent urbanites as prime subscription targets, with women currently the largest share of end-users.
That’s expected to remain unchanged until 2025, when women will represent a $246.6bn market share, owing to increasing numbers of start-ups targeting women.
Personal care and beauty occupy the largest chunk of the worldwide subscription e-commerce market, with changing lifestyles, work schedules, customisation and convenience among the chief future drivers.
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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