Blink raises $2.1 million to help restaurants take back control of their delivery channels

🛵 Introducing Blink, the Saudi-based plug-and-play ordering system that helps restaurants reduce their dependence on delivery aggregators by launching and growing their direct online ordering channels.

And, they just secured $2.1 million in their latest funding seed-funding round!

Co-founded by Syed Sair Ali and Syed Hyder Abbas in 2020, the start-up has helped over 1200 restaurants across the MENAP region process more than 8 million direct orders to date.

💰 Investor lowdown: This round saw the entry of new investors like 500 Global and Global Founders Capital, alongside existing investors, including Orbit Startups/SOSV.

🛵 The aggregator dilemma

Restaurants today are struggling with dependence on food delivery aggregators more than ever.

According to Blink CEO Syed Sair Ali, “Post-Covid, with the sharp increase in the habit of delivery, more than 90% of orders are coming through aggregators where restaurants lose on average 20% margin.”

“Not to mention their inability to access valuable customer data, prohibiting them from any future marketing relationship.”

😉 Made you Blink

The guys at Blink not only want to turn the tables, but also handle the heavy-lifting.

How exactly? You get a cloud-based online restaurant ordering system with a branded mobile app, a website, and built-in fleet management technology, along with end-to-end CRM and business intelligence tools that help you manage orders, menus, items, payments, promotions, and more.

Key consideration? Launching is fast and seamless.

Their edge? Blink’s powerful growth and marketing engine, enabling brands to acquire and retain customers through machine-learning-driven personalised campaigns. 

📈 How’s it going? 

Well, over the last 12 months, the company has processed 4.5 million orders for its partner restaurants and surpassed $0.5 million in Annual Recurring Revenue.

🔮 Flashforward

The fresh funding round will enable the company to accelerate their growth in Saudi Arabia, led by their CEO's presence in Riyadh.