Saudi food delivery startup Jahez has hired the Kingdom’s HSBC Holdings Plc branch to help manage what could be the first listing by a tech startup in the kingdom.
Jahez International Company for Information Technology picked HSBC Saudi Arabia as the sole financial adviser and global coordinator for its potential IPO on Nomu, the Saudi stock exchange’s secondary market. Nomu imposes lighter listing requirements to encourage smaller businesses and startups to raise equity.
Ghassab Al-Mandil founded Jahez in 2016. Today the tech startup serves around 2 million customers in Saudi Arabi, and has processed about 20 million restaurant orders through its app in 2020. It closed a $36.5 million Series A round last year.
“We will continue to expand our platform to tap into new growth opportunities offered by rapid, technology-enabled changes in consumer behavior, both in Saudi Arabia and in the wider region,” said Ghassab Al Mandeel, chief executive officer at Jahez.
Food delivery companies have been flooded with cash from investors betting the pandemic will bring a permanent shift in shopper habits.
The kingdom is set to witness a rise in IPOs in 2021, with companies such as STC planning on listing in Q4 of 2021.
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