Entrepreneur ME 08.2019

August 2019 / ENTREPRENEUR.COM / 73

Ahmed Wadi,

founder and CEO,

Moneyfellows

CURRENTLY, FINEDINE SERVES

MORE THAN 800 CUSTOMERS IN 52

COUNTRIES, MOSTLY IN KUWAIT, SAUDI

ARABIA, AND THE UAE.

For you as an investor, what

made FineDine a startup that

was worth investing in?

“FineDine ticks all the right

boxes: it offers clear value to

both restaurant goers and

restaurants, it harnesses

technology for scalability, and

it has an amazing team behind

it, who combines both passion

in serving their customers and

expertise in the market they

operate in.”

Mona Al Mukhaizeem , Managing

Partner, Savour Ventures

THE INVESTOR’S

VIEWPOINT

FineDine CEO and co-founder

Duygu Kutluoglu Kilic, and CTO and

co-founder Adil Burak Kilic

FineDine app

Mona Al Mukhaizeem, Managing Partner,

Savour Ventures

WE GOT FUNDED | WASHMEN AND FINEDINE SECURE THEIR LATEST FUNDRAISING WINS

FINEDINE

finedinemenu.com

FineDine, a SaaS data-driven digital
menu platform and a tablet application
for the F&B and hospitality sector, has
raised an undisclosed investment from
Middle East food vertical accelerator
Savour Ventures.
Launched in March 2016 by Duygu
Kutluoglu Kilic and Adil Burak Kilic in
Istanbul, Turkey, the startup came into
being after Burak stumbled on the idea
of digitizing paper menus for diners,
who would get to see how their choices
would be served before being ordered.
With CEO Duygu’s project manage-
ment background and CTO Burak’s
skills in software development, the duo
launched FineDine as a SaaS menu
management platform for restaurants,
cafes, bars and hotels to increase sales
and customer retention by digitizing the
dining experience with interactive digi-
tal tablet menus. The platform enables
self-ordering (and soon self-checkout),
allowing consumers to decrease the fric-
tion between the diner and the kitchen,
as well as help managers make decisions
based on analytics on the menu and
service performance.
Currently, FineDine serves more than
800 customers in 52 countries, mostly
in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.
Its customers include the likes of Cavalli
Club, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Hilton,
Raffles Hotels & Resorts, Shangri-La,

and Sofitel Raffles in the GCC, South

East Asia and USA. Kilic credits their

growth to their digital marketing strat-

egy which acquired most of their cus-

tomers online. Besides being integrated

to restaurant management system such

as Epos Now, Clover and more, it also

partners with KSA-born startup Food-

ics’ dashboard to allow guests to place

orders from the FineDine app and sent

to Foodics’ point of system immediately.

An alumni of 500 Startups’ accel-

erator program in San Francisco, the

startup has also previously received

investments from 500 Startups Istan-

bul, as well as Turkish angel investors

Fira Isebecer and Hande Enes. When it

comes to advice for startups pitching to

investors, Kilic tells entrepreneurs that

it’s essential to talk about the long-term

vision, rather than just the current

status of the project. And with the new

investor onboard, Kilic is certain that

the startup will make use of Savour

Ventures’ network, mentors and know-

how to grasp a deeper understanding of

the F&B scene in GCC. They plan to use

the new capital infusion to “dominate

the Gulf region, and grow in South East

Asia.”