UAE's Eighty6 Raises $3.7 Million in Seed Round to Expand Its B2B E-commerce Platform in GCC Region

Eighty6, the leading online procurement platform for restaurants in the United  Arab Emirates, has successfully raised $3.7 million in a Seed round of funding. The round included Sanabil 500 MENA Seed Accelerator Fund and prominent GCC family offices and strategic investors who possess a comprehensive grasp of the food and beverage industry,  encompassing both the restaurant and supplier sides. 

Eighty6’s mission is to reduce time spent on procurement, from both the restaurant and supplier’s perspectives, and minimize mistakes, gaps and food wastage. Its driving objective is to achieve significant efficiencies by leveraging technology to streamline and digitize the daily procurement process, which is currently obsolete, labour-intensive, and time-consuming. This will enable suppliers to augment their profitability by boosting their sales volume while allowing the buyers to benefit from greater transparency and cost savings.  

"Our platform offers a tech-focused solution that addresses the pain points faced on a daily basis by operators and suppliers," said the founder, Abdul Kader Saadi who has amassed 30  years of experience in the F&B industry. "With Eighty6, the users are empowered with deep  data and can expect to benefit from machine learning capabilities in the future." 

The funds raised will be allocated towards enhancing the technological capabilities Of the platform, expanding operations within the UAE, and launching in KSA and KWT, thereby enabling a broader spectrum of F&B ecosystems to benefit from the innovative solutions offered by Eighty6. 

"We are delighted to have Apostolos Binomakis and Mohamad Bhojani joining our board of directors," said the founder. "Both are seasoned professionals with extensive knowledge and expertise in their domains - finance and e-commerce, respectively. Their expertise will play a  pivotal role in our endeavours to scale our operations and reach our next milestones." 

Eighty6 is presently engaged in an extensive recruitment drive, including building its Saudi team, doubling the size of its tech team, and initiating the hiring process for its Kuwait launch.  "We aim to help suppliers reduce the expenses incurred in managing daily orders and extend their market reach while offering buyers a smoother and more transparent solution to plan their daily procurement requirements," said the founder. 

Ms. Amal Dokhan, General Partner with 500 Global MENA said, "I'm excited to support the vision and potential of Eighty6. We strongly believe in the team's ability to execute our vision  and look forward to seeing them make a significant impact in the F&B industry.” 

Related: 500 Global On Nurturing Early Stage MENA Startups