elmenus
elmenus is an Egypt-based food discovery and online ordering platform serving 1.5M+ monthly users across 15+ cities, connecting them to 12,000+ restaurants via a dish-level ML recommender and mobile/web ordering apps, monetizing through transaction fees and restaurant services.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2011
- HeadquartersCairo, Egypt
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What elmenus does
elmenus is an Egypt-based food discovery and online ordering platform founded in 2011 and headquartered in Cairo, operating across 15+ Egyptian cities. The platform combines restaurant and menu discovery, user-generated reviews and food photography, and fully automated online ordering into a single consumer application available on iOS, Android, Huawei, and web. Its core differentiator is a dish-level machine learning recommender that personalizes restaurant and dish suggestions based on user behavior, restaurant metadata, and community content — addressing the daily consumer question of 'what to eat today.'
The platform serves two customer segments: 1.5M+ monthly individual consumers seeking food discovery and delivery, and 12,000+ restaurants (predominantly SMBs) seeking digital presence, online ordering infrastructure, and customer acquisition. A nascent corporate ordering offering extends into workplace meal programs. Revenue is generated through transaction-based streams — a 5% service fee on order subtotals, distance-based delivery fees, and restaurant commissions — augmented by digital restaurant solutions offered as recurring services. Pricing is transparent and pay-as-you-go, with multiple payment methods including cash, credit card, and the elmenus wallet.
elmenus has raised approximately $20 million in total venture funding, including a $10M pre-Series C round led by Fawry in July 2021 and a strategic investment from Careem (Uber's subsidiary) in February 2022 to support regional expansion. The company positions itself within Egypt's online food delivery market (projected to reach $827M by 2034 at 4.55% CAGR), competing against regional players while leveraging Careem's Super App distribution.
elmenus firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- elmenus
- Legal name
- ELMENUS, SAE
- Website
- https://elmenus.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2011
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- elmenus is an Egypt-based food discovery and online ordering platform serving 1.5M+ monthly users across 15+ cities, connecting them to 12,000+ restaurants via a dish-level ML recommender and mobile/web ordering apps, monetizing through transaction fees and restaurant services.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
elmenus industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Food Discovery Platform
- NAICS
- Restaurants and Other Eating Places (72251), Restaurants and Other Eating Places (7225), Limited-Service Restaurants (722513)
- SIC
- Retail-Eating Places (5812), Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Restaurant Meal Delivery Platforms & Aggregators (AFAIAMAA)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Restaurant Meal & Prepared Food Delivery (CRAFAFAB)
Keywords
Where elmenus is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cairo
- HQ country
- Egypt
- HQ region
- Africa
Offices2 records
Markets served
elmenus business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Order Commission/Transaction Fees: elmenus charges restaurants commission fees on orders placed through the platform. The platform facilitates transactions between restaurants and consumers, taking a percentage of each order value.
- Delivery and Service Fees: Service fee of 5% of subtotal (minimum 3.99 EGP, capped at 22.49 EGP) applied to orders. Delivery fees are calculated based on distance between restaurant and customer location.
- Digital Restaurant Solutions: elmenus provides digital solutions and online presence for restaurants, enabling them to reach more customers through the platform
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Service Fee: 5% of subtotal |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Delivery Fee: Distance-based |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | elmenus Wallet |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
elmenus product offering
Product offeringCore offering
elmenus operates an online food discovery and ordering platform connecting consumers to over 12,000 restaurants across more than 15 Egyptian cities. The platform provides digitized restaurant menus, food photos, user reviews, ML-based dish-level recommendations, automated online ordering, and real-time delivery tracking, with partnership integrations for payments (Fawry) and last-mile delivery (Careem).
Product overview
elmenus is a food discovery and online ordering platform consisting of a core web and mobile application that serves over 1.5 million monthly users across Egypt. The platform integrates restaurant discovery, menu browsing, automated online ordering, real-time delivery tracking, and a digital wallet into a unified experience. The main elmenus Platform connects users to over 12,000 restaurants in 15+ cities, while the elmenus Mobile App provides on-the-go access for iOS, Android, and Huawei devices. The Online Ordering System powers automated ordering with customization, payment processing, and tracking, supported by the elmenus Wallet for stored credit and discounts.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- elmenus Platform
- elmenus Mobile App
Quantifiable outcome
- 12,000+ restaurants covered across 15+ Egyptian cities
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use elmenus
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
elmenus technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability2 records
Feature4 records
elmenus partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
elmenus competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Talabat: Leading food delivery platform across MENA, owned by Delivery Hero. Operates in Egypt (post-acquisition of Otlob) and competes head-to-head with elmenus for restaurants, diners, and delivery orders in the same cities.
- Otlob: Pioneer Egyptian online food ordering platform, now part of Talabat. Direct overlap with elmenus in Cairo and other Egyptian cities — same restaurant supply pool and same consumer demand for discovery and ordering.
Broad incumbents
- Careem: Uber-owned Super App operating ride-hailing and food delivery across MENA. Both an elmenus investor and a competitor through its own food delivery vertical; integration partnership gives elmenus distribution within the Careem ecosystem.
- Uber Eats: Global food delivery platform from Uber. Competes indirectly with elmenus in Egypt via its Careem partnership and globally serves as the benchmark take-rate and unit-economics comparison for regional players.
- Deliveroo: Global food delivery incumbent operating across multiple geographies. Useful comparand for elmenus's marketplace economics, restaurant onboarding model, and consumer app experience, though not directly active in Egypt.
- Glovo: Multi-category on-demand delivery platform owned by Delivery Hero. Operates across MENA and parts of Africa, providing a peer benchmark for elmenus's potential expansion into African markets beyond Egypt.
- Zomato: India-headquartered food discovery and delivery platform with restaurant listings, reviews, and ordering. Closely comparable product (dish-level discovery, reviews, restaurant menus) and business model (commission + ads), useful as a public-market benchmark for elmenus's potential monetization paths.
Regional players
- HungerStation: Saudi Arabia-based food delivery platform owned by Delivery Hero, serving as a regional template for the Talabat model. Comparable business model and consumer value proposition to elmenus, though focused on Saudi rather than Egypt.
- Jahez: Saudi food delivery and logistics platform with publicly listed operations. Closely comparable business model to elmenus (marketplace + delivery), serving a neighboring MENA market that elmenus has identified for potential expansion.
- Mrsool: Saudi Arabia-headquartered on-demand delivery platform with a crowdsourced courier model. Comparable in category and operations to elmenus, operating in a different geography but with similar discovery-to-delivery flow.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
elmenus social profiles
Digital presenceelmenus financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
elmenus leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
elmenus funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds8 records
Investors10 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
elmenus M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about elmenus
What does elmenus do?
elmenus operates an online food discovery and ordering platform connecting consumers to over 12,000 restaurants across more than 15 Egyptian cities. The platform provides digitized restaurant menus, food photos, user reviews, ML-based dish-level recommendations, automated online ordering, and real-time delivery tracking, with partnership integrations for payments (Fawry) and last-mile delivery (Careem).
Is elmenus a public or private company?
elmenus is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was elmenus founded?
elmenus was founded in 2011. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is elmenus based?
elmenus is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, in the Africa region.
How does elmenus make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Order Commission/Transaction Fees are the primary driver. The others are delivery and Service Fees and digital Restaurant Solutions.
Who are elmenus's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Talabat and Otlob. Broad incumbents are Careem, Uber Eats, Deliveroo, Glovo and Zomato. Regional players are HungerStation, Jahez and Mrsool.
Does elmenus have an API?
No public API is recorded for elmenus.
What industry is elmenus in?
elmenus's product category is Food Discovery Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFAIAMAA, Restaurant Meal Delivery Platforms & Aggregators, with a secondary code of CRAFAFAB, Restaurant Meal & Prepared Food Delivery. Its NAICS code is 72251 and its SIC code is 5812.