Press Release.
The region’s leading multi-service platform, Careem, has announced its acquisition of MUNCH:ON in the UAE. The subscription-based food delivery platform is planning to rebuild its offering for the Careem App just a few weeks before the end of H1 2022, adding them to the list of outstanding VC vertical integrations within the year.
MUNCH:ON is a subscription-based food delivery platform that connects users to meals at a discount by utilizing underused kitchen capacity and scheduling, bundling, and routing technology. It was founded in 2016 by Mohammad Al Zaben, Dana Baki, and Awn Ali.
The solution generates enormous efficiencies for restaurants and cloud kitchens and has achieved scale in the corporate lunch market. Over the course of four funding rounds, the UAE-based tech startup received more than $16M in capital, with the help of a team of seasoned investors as well as high-end ones like Global Ventures, Shorooq Partners, Derayah, and Vision Ventures.
With this new merger, MUNCH:ON will cease regular business activities and rebuild its product on the Careem app. By bringing low-cost meal segments that MUNCH:ON has pioneered in the region as well as innovative food discovery and delivery alternatives for corporates, the Careem Food and MUNCH:ON teams will collaborate to deliver even greater value.
Since its launch, MUNCH:ON has served millions of customers across 20 thousand various businesses. M&A operations are becoming more relevant and advantageous for entrepreneurs and VC investors across MENA and Emerging Venture Markets, despite the strain that global market concerns place on expansion efforts.
With this particular acquisition, a veteran startup—Careem, one of the first to succeed in scaling regionally and across EVMs—will exhibit its forces as it joins a young tech startup to create a value-based solution that should unlock new market prospects.
Careem’s CEO and co-founder, Mudassir Sheikha, stated: “The MUNCH:ON team have built a competitive food offering driven by a clear vision to make food more accessible and affordable. The Food offer on the Careem app today serves millions of customers across the Middle East and is growing rapidly. By acquiring MUNCH:ON, Careem Food will be able to build an even more competitive offering with a much richer variety of benefits for both customers and restaurant partners.”
The Careem Super App provides more than a dozen services in the UAE, such as food and grocery delivery, ride-hailing, micromobility, payments, and partner services. Most impressively, Careem Food provides access to more than 18,000 restaurants in 8 key cities around the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Qatar, serving millions of customers.
According to Mohammad Al Zaben, CEO and co-founder of MUNCH:ON, this powerful collaboration opens up new opportunities for both teams. “At MUNCH:ON, we set out to build the most affordable food ordering experience in the world. We are thrilled to be a part of a broader mission at Careem to deliver undeniable value to customers, partners, and Captains.”