Cloud-kitchen startup Dahmakan raises US$18m in Series B round

MALAYSIA-BASED cloud-kitchen startup Dahmakan on Thursday said it has raised US$18 million in a Series B funding round led by Rakuten Capital.

Other investors include White Star Capital, JAFCO Asia, GEC-KIP Fund, and Korean food delivery unicorn Woowa Brothers. Existing investors Partech Partners, Y Combinator and the former chief executive of Nestlé Germany also participated in the round.

This brings its total funding raised to upwards of US$28 million.

The fresh funds will be used to further build its in-house operating system, which manages the startup's entire value chain, from food product development to delivery from its distribution kitchens.

"By combining the entire value chain and removing the middleman, we capture the higher-quality and better operational efficiencies needed to be able to offer our customers a better-value product," said chief executive Jonathan Weins, who is also a former foodpanda executive.

This unique operating system makes the kitchens significantly more profitable and easier to operate than most major quick-service restaurants, he added.

Dahmakan, which loosely translates to "Have you eaten" in Malay, operates on the remote-kitchen, delivery-only model similar to rival services such as Smart City Kitchens, Deliveroo Editions and Mumbai-based Rebel Foods.

Operational in Malaysia and Thailand, Dahmakan's customers can order chef-made meals to be delivered to office and homes using its website and mobile app.

There are over 40 new dishes added each month to a growing database of more than 2,000 tested dishes, the company said in a press release. Dishes on the platform cost from US$3.

"Dahmakan is well-positioned to serve the growing demand for food delivery services in South-east Asia with its unique, technology-forward approach of taking control of the entire value chain to provide affordable food delivery options to the region's rising middle class," said Eric Martineau-Fortin, managing partner of White Star Capital.