F&B services startup CloudEats recently announced that they’ve raised $1.4-M in seed funding to fuel its regional expansion across the Philippines and Southeast Asia.
The “Cloud Kitchens and Restaurant” firm, launched in June 2019, aims to “change the way the urban emerging class eats by providing high-quality, affordable and quick meals on-demand.”
Kimberly Yao, CloudEats’ co-founder and CEO, brings in over a decade of experience operating one of the largest stand-alone Food & Entertainment companies in the Philippines. She also founded Boozy.ph, the leading beverage e-commerce company in the country, which sold to one of the largest beverage groups in the Philippines within 18 months of founding.
CloudEats’ co-founder and COO, Iacopo Rovere, is the former co-Founder and CEO of Foodpanda Philippines. He started Foodpanda in 2015, reaching millions of customers with a fleet of over 4,000 delivery riders.
“We plan to build over 100 kitchens and offer our in-house brands in at least four countries within the next 2 years and be the leading online food group across Southeast Asia,” said Yao.” Rovere agrees saying “CloudEats is revolutionizing kitchen operations that enable us to deliver more value to the consumers.”
Together, Yao and Rovere are bringing their experience in traditional food and beverage industries, as well as e-commerce and food delivery expertise to lead the company’s growth across Southeast Asia.
Veering away from the traditional restaurant model, CloudEats developed its cloud kitchens in non-retail, highly cost-efficient spaces with operations and layouts specifically designed for food delivery that result in high productivity and profitable unit economics while offering 15-20% lower prices compared to competing brands.
In March 2020, nine months into operations, CloudEats reached over 3,000 orders a day. They currently operate five kitchens, servicing 70 in-house restaurant brands, with offerings including chicken wings, healthy food, rice bowls, beverages and local cuisines.
These food brands are available on all major food delivery platforms including Grab Food, Foodpanda and Lalafood. Collectively, these fulfill over five million orders per month in the Philippines as of March 2020. More kitchens are under construction both locally and regionally.
“CloudEats’ delivery-focused business model which allows for quick setup and low startup investment, is a great complement to the food delivery ecosystem as it provides great food choices at affordable prices,” said Brian Cu, Co-Founder & Country Head of Grab Philippines.
Camille Hadjeri, Managing Director of Foodpanda Philippines, said “CloudEats is a strong partner to Foodpanda with its broad range of brands that helps us increase the choice for our customers.”
As part of its mission to become a leader in the food industry, CloudEats has started a charity food drive centered around providing cooked meals to medical and local government front liners who are fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Armed with kitchens that are hyper-focused on delivery operations, CloudEats raised over 55,000 meal donations, which is sent daily to the front liners in this very challenging time.
