Dubai-based startup Sweetheart Kitchen raises funds for Gulf expansion

Dubai: Cloud kitchen start-up Sweetheart Kitchen on Sunday said it raised €15 million (about Dh65 million) in Series C funding.

The round, backed by strategic investors and led by the company’s CEO Peter Schatzberg, will boost Sweetheart’s ability “to leverage the best technologies to optimize the company’s food delivery supply chain,” a statement said.

Sweetheart, which previously raised €21 million (Dh91 million) and launched 30 brands, plans to use the latest inflow of funds to launch five additional brands, and have 12 units live in UAE and seven units live in Kuwait by the first quarter of 2021, with more expansion in the pipeline into Saudi Arabia in the second half of next year.

According to Allied Market Research, the global cloud kitchen market size was valued at $43.1 billion in 2019, and is estimated to reach $71.4 billion by 2027.