How Jalebi Tackles the Challenge of Optimizing Food Stock and Order Management
Backed by Techstars, recently clinched the Top MENA Award at Expand North Star and being honored as the F&B Platform of the Year at the Tech Innovation Awards, Jalebi emerges as the burgeoning star in the Food and Beverage scene. We had the unique opportunity to ask them a few questions. And so we did…
How did Jalebi start?
In June 2020, amid the peak of the COVID pandemic, we seized an opportunity in the F&B industry. Researching extensively, we progressed from meta-aggregation to QR menus and a robust menu management command center, eventually honing in on inventory.
Tech development commenced when we recognized the need to understand the true cost of food through its movement.
Over 18 months, we deliberately excluded certain models, arriving at a focus on inventory. Engaging with 500+ restaurant stakeholders guided our journey, unveiling a significant industry gap – manual inventory management.
In December 2021, we decided to build an inventory-centric product emphasizing reducing food costs, minimizing waste, and enhancing operational efficiency. Shifting our focus to inventory garnered attention, and today we are the region’s first with a full-stack inventory management system, serving 5 markets with over 250 units and a dedicated team of 25 across 7 markets. The rest is history.
What value does Jalebi bring, and how does it address user pain points?
In its current form, Jalebi was initially crafted to assist restaurants in bolstering profitability by optimizing the cost of servicing orders. This involved gaining a deep understanding of the existing challenges within the industry.
To put it simply, Jalebi addresses the need for restaurants to optimize their food cost. By operating with an inventory-first approach, we provide detailed insights across the entire operation, empowering restaurants with a tool that was traditionally reserved for elite establishments due to prohibitive pricing and complex implementations. We’ve transformed inventory management into a user-friendly, easy-to-adopt, and competitively priced solution, allowing for quick and seamless integration (30-120 minutes to go live).
Can you tell us about a challenge you’re facing right now?
Securing funds is typically challenging for every startup, particularly in the current environment.The absence of consistent and reliable access to capital creates hurdles for even the most promising startups, hindering progress until they attain profitability or break-even. Despite these challenges, our strong investment track record and the awards we’ve won give us confidence that we can overcome these hurdles.
And finally… are you currently fundraising?
Yes, we are actively fundraising, with institutions and angels joining our efforts.
In the past, we successfully closed a preseed round in Oct 2022, oversubscribed by 30%, with support from investors such as Techstars, Oqal, Core Vision, and several notable angels worldwide.