Long Angle: A Vetted Community for High-Net-Worth Entrepreneurs and Executives

Long Angle is a private, vetted community for high-net-worth entrepreneurs, executives, and professionals across multiple industries.

Our members are primarily self-made, 30–55-year-olds with $5M-$100M in net worth. Engage in confidential discussions, peer advisory groups, and live meetups.

Get access to curated alternative investments like private equity and private credit. With $250M+ invested, members leverage collective expertise and scale to capture unique opportunities.

No membership fees.

Join Long Angle Today

Kitopi has long been hailed as the MENA region’s shining example of a cloud kitchen success story.

There’s just one catch: Kitopi doesn’t see itself as a cloud kitchen anymore.

Take a look at its website, and you won’t find the term mentioned. The pivot is deliberate, emblematic of a company that’s evolved far beyond its original narrative.

Today, Kitopi calls itself:

“A tech-powered, multi-brand restaurant.”

I’m not entirely sure if it’s a description that smoothly rolls off the tongue, but ostensibly it does exactly what it says on the tin.

The numbers back it up. Kitopi directly owns and manages over 100 brands with more than 6,000 employees spread across Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and beyond. Its footprint spans 200+ locations in seven countries. It also runs specialised hubs, like its Customer Experience Center in Amman and its Engineering Hub in Krakow, Poland.

It’s been a whirlwind six years for the Dubai-based company, which started as a solution for scaling restaurant brands and has grown into a self-contained operational and technological behemoth.

Along the way, Kitopi has not only satisfied consumers' appetites but has also fuelled its ambitious hunger for empire-building, constantly reinventing and reshaping itself to redefine the rules of the restaurant industry in its favour.

🏭🍫 Origins: The chocolate factory

By 29, Mohamad Ballout had already achieved what many spend a lifetime pursuing.

At 21, he co-founded a confectionery manufacturing business that grew into one of the GCC’s largest players. After exiting, Mohamad turned the page — but Kitopi wasn’t his first idea.

Once the vision for Kitopi crystallised, he went all in, guided by a singular philosophy: execution over everything.

Mohamad is the kind of founder that naturally draws investors.

He has the ability to paint a compelling vision of global industry disruption while distilling complex ideas into simple, easy-to-understand concepts.

Confident yet grounded, he leans heavily on analogies, often comparing Kitopi to tech-enabled media platforms — first to Netflix when licensing was central to their operations, and now to Spotify as they pivot towards a D2C model and navigate that transition.

This approach perhaps helps bridge the perception gap, as Kitopi is now, at its core, a food and beverage conglomerate with a strong tech-enabled backbone — in that order, rather than the inverse which was the case in the early days.

Beginning

Originally from Lebanon, Mohamad is a third-culture kid, born and raised in Dubai, who grew up surrounded by the hum of ambition.

His father built one of the first coffee, nut, and sweet shops in the region, personally roasting nuts and coffee each morning in their kitchen.

From a young age, Mohamad and his brother Bilal absorbed his entrepeneurial playbook: control costs, scale strategically, and think like an entrepreneur. But it was Bilal who first acted on it.

After joining their father’s business, Bilal quickly spotted a major opportunity in procurement: suppliers were entrenched, operating in monopolistic comfort with little incentive to offer competitive prices.

For Bilal, this was the opening he needed. He pitched Mohamad on starting a trading company to disrupt the supply chain.

Mohamad, drawn to numbers and dreaming of a career in investment banking, was hesitant. Finance was “the thing” at the time, and he wanted in.

But the 2008 financial crisis changed everything. Investment banking doors slammed shut, and Bilal’s idea became harder to ignore.

In 2009, the brothers joined forces to create BMB (Baklawa Made Better), a business designed to upend the old ways.

Learning

BMB began humbly, operating out of a modest warehouse in Sharjah, distributing confectionery ingredients to chocolate factories. It was a scrappy setup — lean, untested, and far from glamorous.

In good times, suppliers paid little attention to costs. But as competition flooded the market, BMB found itself struggling to stay afloat. For Mohamad and Bilal, it was a make-or-break moment.

When the global financial crisis hit, BMB’s small, efficient structure became its saving grace. The brothers seized an opportunity: why just distribute when they could manufacture?

The decision to create their own chocolate products proved transformative. Bilal zeroed in on refining the product, while Mohamad scaled distribution and drove revenue.

It worked. The brothers balanced each other perfectly, their shared history as siblings likely softening the occasional business blow.

What started in a small warehouse grew into the GCC’s largest private-label chocolate manufacturer. At its peak, BMB employed 1,200 people, supplying major global players like Walmart, Carrefour, and Starbucks across more than 30 countries.

The lessons learned here — lean operations, opportunistic pivots, and complementary leadership — would echo years later in the foundation of Kitopi.

Growing

At the height of BMB’s success, the Ballout brothers joined Endeavor, the global mentorship platform for entrepreneurs asking, What’s next?

Endeavor offered more than advice — it was both a mirror and a map. Through mentorship, Mohamad and Bilal realised that instinct could only take them so far. Scaling required strategy, structure, and systems.

They began hiring experts better than themselves, moving the company beyond family dynamics. Governance replaced gut; silos gave way to systems. BMB wasn’t just a family-run operation anymore — it was a brand designed to endure.

By year eight, BMB had grown far beyond its humble beginnings, but Mohamad felt the strain. Burnt out, he faced a choice that few in the region would consider: selling his stake.

In the Middle East, family businesses are often seen as lifelong commitments. When an offer to buy his stake emerged, cultural expectations weighed heavy. Even his father disapproved, seeing the move as abandoning the legacy.

But Mohamad saw it differently. To him, financial freedom was a launchpad, not an end point.

He made the call: sell, step back, and rethink his relationship with work.

What made BMB thrive wasn’t Mohamad’s presence — it was the systems he and Bilal built. The company succeeded because they prioritised its growth over their egos.

Those lessons — about structure, scale, and selflessness—would become the cornerstone of Mohamad’s next venture.

At Kitopi, he would drive the company to uncharted heights, proving that the best founders know when to lead and when to let go.

Brainstorming

After exiting BMB, Mohamad Ballout didn’t take a victory lap. Instead, he launched Ripples Capital, a venture studio in Dubai’s Media City, where he nurtured others’ business ideas.

But even as he supported other founders, Mohamad couldn’t shake the itch to build something of his own.

For a moment, he considered angel investing in restaurants. The industry was ripe for disruption, but a persistent problem loomed: scaling.

Restaurants faced steep costs to expand delivery operations, often needing new outlets just to reach more customers.

“I was looking at investing in food and about to back a restaurant brand,” Mohamad said. “But delivery was becoming a bigger part of their business. I realized brick-and-mortar restaurants aren’t scalable, and their margins are shrinking. I thought, I’m never going to make my money back on this investment.”

The idea for Kitopi began to form.

Mohamad drew on his BMB experience. At BMB, clients who wanted new product lines —like healthy snacks or ethnic sweets — didn’t build factories from scratch. They licensed BMB’s facilities instead. What if restaurants could do something similar?

It didn’t happen overnight. Mohamad relentlessly pitched half-baked ideas to his friend and future co-founder, Saman, during a trip to California. Most fell flat.

But then came what must have been idea number twenty: a tech-powered cloud kitchen platform that would let restaurants scale delivery without opening new locations.

This time, Sam stopped in his tracks.

At the time, cloud kitchens mostly operated as shared spaces — real estate plays with minimal tech integration. But Mohamad envisioned something bigger: an end-to-end managed cloud kitchen platform that handled operations for restaurants.

By the time Mohamad and Sam returned to Dubai, the idea had crystallised. They laid the groundwork for what would become Kitopi.

“Neither of us knew much about kitchens,” Mohamad admitted. “But what we lacked in culinary expertise, we made up for in execution.”

It was a familiar formula: identify inefficiencies, build systems to solve them, and scale fast.

Building

Kitopi’s founding story had its share of drama. Originally set to launch with three co-founders, the plan hit a snag just a week before its debut. The co-founder responsible for operations backed out, doubting the idea’s potential.

Enter Andres Arenas, a friend of Mohamad Ballout visiting Dubai from Peru with his wife. With a background in production, Andres was the perfect fit for the operational role. Mohamad saw the opportunity and pitched the idea. By the end of the visit, Andres had decided to stay in Dubai and join the venture.

The founding team was rounded out by Bader Ataya, co-founder of Mumzworld, the leading e-commerce platform for baby products in the region. Bader joined as Chief Growth Officer, bringing strategic and operational expertise to the team.

With Mohamad, Sam, Andres, and Bader in place, Kitopi was ready to launch.

When Kitopi launched in January 2018, it had a clear edge: it was the UAE’s first managed cloud kitchen operator. With no direct competition, the company had room to refine its model and educate the market.

But this advantage didn’t last long. As competitors entered the scene, the market matured. For the founders, this was a welcome development — they believed the food industry’s massive scale could accommodate multiple players. Unlike winner-takes-all industries, food is a multi-trillion-dollar sector ripe for collaborative growth.

Kitopi introduced a revolutionary concept: the managed cloud kitchen platform. Unlike shared kitchen spaces that simply rented out facilities, Kitopi offered an end-to-end solution. The company managed everything — from sourcing ingredients to preparing food—leaving restaurants to focus on their brand.

The model was ambitious. Kitopi shouldered all operational costs, provided facilities and staff, and handled everything except the final courier delivery. In exchange, restaurants paid a licensing fee.

The power of this approach lay in economies of scale. By controlling the entire food cost chain, Kitopi optimised every step of the process. This allowed the production of previously unattainable volumes while maintaining sustainable growth.

From the beginning, technology was central to Kitopi’s operations. Traditional restaurants relied heavily on manual labor for tasks like flipping burgers, which introduced inconsistencies. Kitopi flipped the script, integrating automation into its kitchens.

Smart ovens, fryers, and other proprietary tools were built in-house, ensuring consistency, quality, and efficiency. At the heart of this system was SKOS (Smart Kitchen Operating System), Kitopi’s proprietary technology platform that streamlined operations across all locations.

One of Kitopi’s greatest challenges was simply gaining buy-in from restaurants. Many were hesitant to share recipes or adapt to a delivery-first mindset. None of the founders came from a catering background, but their conviction to solve these challenges never wavered.

The team quickly identified two distinct customer segments:

1. Global chains, like McDonald’s and Shake Shack, already equipped for mass production.

2. Local champions, smaller restaurants unfamiliar with scaling or takeaway operations.

For the latter group, Kitopi provided a re-engineering process to adapt their menus and operations for delivery.

Building trust was critical. Each success story opened doors to new partners, growing Kitopi’s portfolio from just five restaurants to a rapidly expanding roster.

Fundraising

Kitopi’s growth has always been underpinned by a strategic approach to fundraising. For Mohamad Ballout, capital alone wasn’t enough — it was imperative that investors also brought expertise, networks, and emotional support to the table.

The first major funding came from CE Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Crescent Enterprises, and BECO Capital, one of the MENA region’s leading VC firms. This early-stage backing provided the resources to refine Kitopi’s business model and establish its dominance as the UAE’s king of cloud kitchens.

Kitopi also attracted quite the line-up of high-profile angel investors, each with deep operational expertise and global networks.

Among its early backers were:

• Travis Kalanick, co-founder of Uber and a pioneer of the gig economy.

• Nicholas Thompson, former Editor-in-Chief of Wired Magazine, who brought access to media and technology circles.

• Founders of Google Ventures, offering Silicon Valley credibility and strategic insights.

But these angels weren’t just silent investors. They played active roles in the company’s development:

• Kitopi’s first angel investor, Sami, wrote the first check and later joined the team as CFO.

• Mahmoud, another angel, took on the role of Chief Legal Officer.

The benefit of bringing these high-profile angels and early investors on board was twofold: they strengthened Kitopi operationally and instilled confidence in future backers.

In the same year, BECO Capital doubled down on its belief in Kitopi by leading its $27.2M Series A round. For Mohamad, BECO’s involvement went far beyond capital. Managing Partner Dany Farha, as Mohamad has often remarked, could pitch Kitopi better than Mohamad himself — a testament to BECO’s commitment to its portfolio companies.

This wasn’t just about capital; it was about unlocking networks that had previously been out of reach. By selecting early investors with deep regional expertise, Kitopi ensured it had partners who could open doors and provide invaluable guidance.

Mohamad has reflected on this often: at the Seed and Series A stage, an excellent regional VC can offer far more value than a global counterpart. With world-class angels and regional heavyweights like BECO in its corner, Kitopi had access not only to capital but to strategic insights and operational support critical for early-stage growth.

Beyond the strategic and operational benefits, these relationships also provided emotional support. The entrepreneurial path can be isolating, and leaning on investors who genuinely understood the journey proved invaluable. For Kitopi, this combination of financial backing, mentorship, and connection set the foundation for its rapid ascent.

By the end of 2019, Kitopi had raised $89 million across its Seed, Series A, and Series B rounds. This funding fuelled its GCC expansion, with Saudi Arabia emerging as a key growth market.

It’s $60 million Series B round, has been led by Knollwood Investment Advisory and Lumia Capital, introducing U.S.-based investors to its cap table, diversifying its backers and setting the stage for international growth.

By its Series C, Kitopi’s relationships with investors were well-established, eliminating the need to scout new backers.

Kitopi’s $415 million Series C, led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, was a landmark moment—not just for the company but for the region. It marked SoftBank’s first-ever investment in a Middle Eastern company, valuing Kitopi at over $1 billion and officially earning it unicorn status just three years after launch. Kitopi became the third unicorn in the Middle East and the fastest-growing to date.

A year later, Kitopi secured an additional $300 million in top-up funding for its Series C, bringing the total to $715 million. But this period wasn’t just about raising capital—it marked a pivotal shift in the company’s strategy.

From its inception, Kitopi had positioned itself as a global company, unconstrained by regional borders. Pre-COVID, the company laid the groundwork for international expansion, preparing kitchens in New York and London to replicate its success in the UAE.

However, the coronavirus pandemic disrupted those plans. Lockdowns and logistical challenges forced Kitopi to abandon its international ambitions, at least temporarily. Instead, the company pivoted, redirecting its focus to e-grocery services in the UAE to meet shifting consumer needs.

Despite the disruption, Kitopi used the Series C funding to deepen its presence in the MENA region, with plans to open additional kitchens in Saudi Arabia and the UAE while exploring opportunities in Southeast Asia.

As Kitopi evolved, it became clear that global expansion wasn’t an immediate priority.

The cloud kitchen model, as originally envisioned, was no longer sustainable—the unit economics didn’t add up. Faced with mounting challenges, the company took a hard look at its mission and made a bold pivot: shifting from a middleman to a fully vertically integrated operator.

The timing couldn’t have been better. Cash was abundant in the market, enabling Kitopi to execute an acquisition-driven growth strategy. Had the company rested on its laurels, the economic downturn that followed could have spelled its demise.

Instead, Kitopi emerged sharper and more focused, capitalising on a buyer’s market with substantial cash reserves. While the F&B industry reeled from an unprecedented crisis, Kitopi redefined its model, positioning itself as a formidable leader in the post-pandemic landscape.

☁️🔪 Product: The food publishing house

Or, do you?

Kitopi’s journey has been one of relentless iteration.

From its origins as a managed cloud kitchen to its transformation into a fully integrated food ecosystem, the company has continually adapted to challenges, market shifts, and consumer demands.

Each phase of its evolution reflects a broader ambition: to redefine how people experience food.

Phase 1: Kitchen as a service

Traditionally, cloud kitchens operated as real estate offerings, leasing facilities to food brands seeking an alternative to opening brick-and-mortar restaurants.

👋 Message from the team

Thanks for reading this week’s edition!

If you’re enjoying the newsletter, don’t forget to share it with a friend!

Have a question or any feedback? Just hit reply, or provide a rating below - we want to hear from you!!

Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here.