Calo raises $25 million to expand its takeaway service beyond the Middle East

A business built around increasingly personalized ready meals has turned a Middle Eastern start-up into a network Be rejected a huge financial injection as it looks to expand both what can offer its time-strapped customers and where it offers an ever-increasing variety of just-heated meals.

The food delivery market in the Middle East will hit $11.2 billion by 2030according to the report from MarkNtel Advisors was published last year. Food aggregators like Careem, Deliveroo and Talabat have built huge businesses on the habits of busy professionals who order food instead of preparing it themselves. With the COVID-19 pandemic.

Riyadh-based Calo differentiates itself by offering personalized meal subscriptions for specialized segments such as weight loss, high protein intake or balanced meals – targeting customers who care about what they eat, not just when their meals will arrive.

The startup plans to lean more towards meal customization to meet more personalized segments and nutritional needs, such as meals aimed at those who want to gain muscle or have diabetes, IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) or PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome). Calo’s premise is that people in these categories will pay a premium for food customization features that meet their convenience needs.

The company is so confident it’s on to something that it’s in the process of acquiring an unnamed UK food start-up next year to expand its footprint beyond the Middle East – with ambitions to go global.

To fund new growth vectors, Calo raised $25 million in Series B led by Nuwa Capital with participation from Khwarizm Ventures and STV. Note that all these investors are returning investors.

Calo is currently valued at around $250 million, according to multiple sources TechCrunch spoke to.

The startup, which operates in Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, allows users to choose healthier ready-to-eat meals including breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks – offering meal filters such as balanced, high protein, low carb and food filters. vegetarian. Users can customize their meals and plans and even skip days.

That approach has created momentum in the region: this year, Calo said it served 10 million meals, with an average price of $7 to $9 a meal.

Beyond the Series B, Calo said it aims to close a $25 million extension round by Q1 2025 and aims to go public within the next few years. So, this could be the company’s last funding tranche before it gets listed in Saudi Arabia. (By closing the Series B, Calo had raised a total of $51 million across multiple rounds.)

“It’s a powerful idea to provide ready-to-eat meals that are nutritious, healthy and tailored to your needs,” Khalid Talhouni, managing partner at Nuwa Capital, told TechCrunch on a call. “Whether you want to build muscle or lose weight, Calo helps you personalize meals, and we’re excited about the idea.”

“In the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) market, there is an inherent tendency to order food. That’s why companies like Talabat and Deliveroo are successful. Moreover, Calo’s logistics model as a dairy puts them in a favorable position,” he added.

Jalo was launched in 2019 by Ahmed Al Ravi in ​​Bahrain. Before that, Al Rawi founded another startup for people to book sports venues and join ongoing games. He later advised startups in New York before starting Calo.

“Before starting the startup, I thought there wasn’t much to do in food delivery as startups like Careem already existed. But I realized that a segment of customers wanted customized meals with specific calories or ingredients, and the incumbents weren’t offering that level of customization,” Al Ravi told TechCrunch during a call.

He noted that the services existed to provide food recommendations based on a person’s height, weight, age, gender and activity, but they did not provide actual food, which was not ideal for busy professionals – so Al Rawi was an opportunity to eat more. found. special food delivery.

According to Calo, people buy 30% more food on its service compared to an on-demand food aggregator (like Careem). It owes this stickiness to combining the convenience of food delivery with saving its customers the hassle of finding the right food to meet their health goals.

The company operates one central kitchen per city, using vans to make deliveries between cities with the help of small vans and private drivers. According to Al Rawi, Jalo currently has 200 vans operating in the Middle East.

Customers receive their meals chilled, which they can reheat in the microwave or using a pan on the stove. The startup said it was able to keep its operations fast and lean by not having multiple delivery centers and sticking to scheduled deliveries.

Future Roadmap

In addition to opening up the aforementioned new segments, Calo plans to introduce deeper customization for users — where they’ll be able to specify or remove the exact amount of protein, carbs, or fat they want in a meal, for example. is a component.

The startup is also experimenting with new business models such as retail food kiosks and on-demand delivery service in places like corporate offices.

Saudi Arabia currently accounts for 70% of Calo’s revenue, with the UAE a close second at 15%. However, Al Ravi told us he expects the UAE to grow exponentially in the coming years.

This year, Calo has reached nine figures in annual revenue and is operating almost at a break-even point. The company aims to reach profitability next year before going public.

“Because we saved capital, we didn’t need to raise money and grow organically. However, we saw new growth opportunities. So we raised money primarily to expand our business models, cover more segments and also open up new geographies that we serve,” said Al Ravi.