• UAE-based Your Compass has participated in Turkey-headquartered cloud kitchen operator Fork N Knife’s $800,000 Seed round.
• The round saw participation from a group of Middle Eastern and global investors.
• Founded in 2022 by Yassir NasrAllah, Fork N Knife offers a cooking as a service (CAAS) model, allowing restaurants and food enthusiasts to start and expand their own food businesses without any initial capital.
• The startup has plans to make an entry into Africa and Europe on the back of the fresh funds. 

Press release

Tech-enabled cloud kitchen, Fork N Knife, has successfully closed its seed funding round with $800,000, paving the way for the company to continue its journey of advancing the food tech sector based on its accumulated expertise and capabilities.

A diverse group of individual angel investors and institutions inside and outside the Middle East contributed to the successful funding round. Among them is UAE’s Your Compass.

The accomplishment reflects the strong confidence in Fork N Knife: “ ‘Cooking As A Service(CAAS) model,’ allowing restaurant and food concept developers to expand their businesses without an initial investment. It also sets the stage for the company’s strategic expansion into the European and African markets by the end of the year.

This success comes on the heels of a period of rapid growth for Fork N Knife in Turkey, where it currently operates in three branches. The achievement underscores the significant potential and promising opportunities within the food industry in the region. It represents a key strategic move for Fork N Knife, opening new horizons and contributing to a new phase of growth and expansion, including an effective entry into the markets of Europe and Africa.

Fork N Knife offers a distinctive model that deviates from traditional fixed-fee structures, seeking dynamic partnerships with innovators in the food industry. It provides developers with the opportunity to expand their businesses without incurring fixed costs and with higher profitability. The company effectively launches brands on all major food aggregators within a short period not exceeding 15 days.

Yasser Nasr-Aldin, Co-founder and CEO of Fork N Knife, remarked on the occasion: “Throughout my 8-year journey in cloud kitchens, witnessing the evolving stages of the industry, it became evident that the cloud kitchen business domain needed a unique model to solve the

real challenges faced by restaurant owners. Instead of reducing fixed costs, as is common in cloud kitchens, we completely eliminated them.”

Nasr-Aldin added: “We, at Fork N Knife, challenge conventions by offering our unique model: Cooking As A Service(CAAS). Restaurant owners face significant challenges with high commissions taken by food apps, reaching up to 50% of the selling price, leaving them no room to bear fixed costs. That’s why we decided to address this pain by providing a unique model to maximise brand owners’ profitability and eliminate risk.”

Regarding the role of technology in distinguishing Fork N Knife’ services, Nasr-Aldin emphasised relying on technology as a means to gain better control over food production, support restaurant owners, and empower them to excel in the growing food market.

Nasr-Aldin concluded: “The results of this seed funding round reflect the increasing interest from investors in Fork N Knife and indicate the

tremendous potential the company offers in transforming the food industry in the region. Simultaneously, negotiations for Fork N Knife’s the new funding round, Series A, has commenced, highlighting investors' keen interest and strong confidence in the innovative approach the company takes towards cloud kitchens.”