• Saudi Arabia-based SaaS startup Blink has closed a $2.1 million Seed funding round with participation from 500 Global and Global Founders Capital, alongside existing investors including Orbit Startup/SOSV. 
• Founded in 2020 by Syed Sair Ali and Syed Hyder Abbas, Blink helps restaurants across the Middle East, North Africa, and Pakistan process direct orders.
• The current funding round will enable the company to accelerate its growth in Saudi Arabia.

Press release:

Blink has successfully closed a $2.1 million Seed funding round with participation from 500 Global and Global Founders Capital, alongside existing investors, including Orbit Startup/SOSV.

Blink helps restaurants make higher profit margins and reduce their dependence on delivery aggregators by launching and growing their direct online ordering channels. Over the last 12 months, the company processed 4.5 million orders for its partner restaurants and surpassed $0.5 million in annual recurring revenue. 

Founded in 2020, Blink has helped over 1200 restaurants across the MENAP region process more than 8 million direct orders. Blink's edge remains its powerful growth and marketing engine, enabling brands to acquire and retain customers through machine-learning-driven  personalised campaigns. What sets Blink apart is not only its innovative solutions but also the seamless experience it offers restaurants. Going live with Blink's online ordering websites and apps is fast and easy, providing a hassle-free solution for businesses looking to establish and expand their direct online presence. 

The current funding round will enable the company to accelerate their growth in Saudi Arabia, the fastest-growing market in the GCC region, where they have already established an impressive footprint, led by the CEO's presence in Riyadh. 

“Restaurants today are struggling with dependence on food delivery aggregators more than ever. 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 a 20% margin. Not to mention their inability to access valuable customer data, prohibiting them from any future marketing relationship.

Our meaningful work has allowed restaurant brands to win back up to 40% of their aggregator orders through their direct ordering channel, increasing their profitability by 30%. - Syed Sair Ali, Co-founder and CEO,  Blink 

Quote from Amal Dokhan/Abdulrahman Jiffry (500-Sanabil): “As early investors in food delivery marketplaces and recently in models similar to Blink in other geographies, we believe in Blink’s mission to empower brands to have more direct orders. Similar models have worked globally, and we see tremendous potential in the model and the team's ability to execute.” Oliver, GFC 

“There are many common challenges shared by different countries within emerging and frontier markets, said William Bao Bean, Managing General Partner at Orbit Startups. “We backed Sair and the team because they have what it takes to scale cross-border and create a regional leader by digitising traditional micro- and SMEs, taking them online and direct to consumers.”