Mohamad Ballout the Co-Founder and CEO of Kitopi has recently joined the exclusive and extremely coveted “unicorn club” after successfully fundraising US$ 415 Million from from a group of investors including SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund 2.

Kitopi operates a series of “cloud kitchens” that manage the process of food sourcing, preparation and delivery on behalf of popular restaurant brands. Very recently, Kitopi went beyond the “franchise” model to become the owner of several local brands, providing restaurant owners with an exit opportunity.

If you order via any of the food delivery apps today, the majority of your meals were most likely prepared by Kitopi. In fact, Mohamad told us that they are the 3rd largest food operator in the UAE after McDonald’s and Yum!.

In this episode, we focus on Mohamad’s experience in building a high growth startup including managing complex operations, teams and various stakeholders, particularly investors. We zoom in on his fundraising journey and get his views on managing investors and the Board of Directors to extract the most value.

Mohamad’s journey is extremely inspiring and there is definitely something to learn for everyone who listens.

SPONSORS:

This episode is sponsored by our friends at Astrolabs. Check out: www.Astrolabs.com/loulou to avail exclusive discounts on company registration in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, co-working space as well as discounts on online courses covering coding, social media, digital marketing and more.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

00:00 | Sponsor’s message and exclusive offer to listeners. Visit www.astrolabs.com/loulou

00:43 | The challenges that face a business with a complex business model and massive scale

05:56 | What makes Kitopi so unique and successful

11:32 | Fundraising hundreds of millions of dollars (including the role of angels)

21:27 | Managing a Board of Directors in various stages of startup growth

24:22 | Building a winning culture and the need for Employee Stock Option Pools

33:40 | Favorite dish, enjoyable work days, fundraising tips and advice to young people

37:07 | Loulou’s closing message

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