Menu Group UK Ltd, the leader of the restaurant food delivery markets in Armenia, Georgia, and Belarus, announced today that it has raised $3 million in equity to accelerate its regional expansion.
The investors are U.S.-based funds Perea Capital and Hayastan 1 and Moscow-based SOLventures, a fund co-managed by Levon Oganesyan. Mr. Oganesyan was a founder of Delivery Club, Russia’s leading online food delivery service that was acquired by Mail.ru Group for $100 million in 2016. These new investors will join existing investor Granatus Ventures on Menu’s board of directors.
Since launching in 2012, Menu Group has experienced rapid growth in Armenia, Georgia, and Belarus, and currently delivers more than one million restaurant orders annually. In August 2017, Menu Group consolidated its leading position in Georgia by acquiring its nearest competitor Foodpanda Georgia. The company’s estimated revenue for 2017 will be more than $3 million. Menu will utilize the new equity to enhance the development of IT infrastructure, improve the customer interface and experience, increase marketing activity in all markets, and expand operations into new markets, offering attractive returns on capital.
“In 2012, inspired by Russia’s Delivery Club, we founded Menu.am – the first food delivery service in Armenia. Today we are building a global company. The funds raised will allow us to accelerate our growth, elevate our management and expertise, and adopt an agile, data-driven approach to maximize efficiency, while putting the needs of our customers, partner restaurants, dedicated couriers, and all other company staff at the heart of what we do. I am thrilled to have exceptional investors onboard, whose values are aligned with those of the founders. I’m confident that together we will be able to make a great history, delivering happiness to millions of people,” said Vahan Kerobyan, the founder of Menu Group.
“Menu’s management has demonstrated its commitment to enhancing customers’ lives through convenience and selection. We admire the founder for building the business from scratch into a scaled operation, while allocating capital wisely to generate customer values far in excess of their acquisition costs. We are excited to join Menu at this stage in its growth,” said Isaac Schwartz, managing partner of Hayastan 1.
“We are very much encouraged by the results achieved by the Menu Group team within the Armenian, Georgian and Belarusian markets. Acquiring investment will enable the company not only to boost its position in existing markets but also to expand its geographical presence”, commented Levon Oganesyan of SOLventures.
Perea Capital is a value-oriented global investment firm based in Houston and managed by Omar Musa.
Hayastan 1 is an investment partnership managed by Isaac Schwartz, a global portfolio manager for Robotti & Company Advisors, a New York-based investment company.
SOLventures is a Moscow-based venture capital firm that invests in early-stage IT and e-commerce companies.
Granatus Ventures, led by Manuk Hergnyan, is Armenia’s first venture capital firm.
