SoftBank Group Corp is in talks to invest in Dubai cloud kitchen Kitopi’s latest funding round through its second technology fund. This is collected from familiar sources. The Japanese company’s Vision Fund 2 has put forward a proposal to lead an investment of about $400 million in Kitopi.
Both SoftBank and Kitopi has declined to comment. So called cloud kitchens are facilities which are built to prepare food specifically for delivery. During this corona virus crisis, they have benefited a lot by online services. These dark, cloud or ghost kitchens have no physical presence as a restaurant. They offer delivery-only services from a centralized location, and this is done through a mobile app. The headquarters of Kitopi is in Dubai. This operates more than 60 kitchens and has more than 1500 employees.
The global cloud kitchen industry could be worth about $71 billion by 2027. This is an estimation from the Allied Market Research in India. Kitopi hired Bank of America earlier this year. This is to help with the fund-raising round. They are expecting to generate $150 million to $200 million of financing to expand into Southeast Asia. SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 has targeted $108 billion in fundraising. And this was seeded with $38 billion from SoftBank’s own funds. Kitopi has raised $117.2 million since its inception from investors. This includes Dubai-based venture capital firm BECO Capital and U.S. based Lumia Capital.
