Spades, a UAE-based Dine-in Payment FinTech, has raised $2.5 million in an angel round from a select group of entrepreneurs and funds. The round included prominent European business angels such as Thibaud Elzière (Founder, Fotolia & eFounders), Eduardo Ronzano (Founder, KelDoc & Managing Partner, Secret Fund), and Yan Hascoet, Othmane Bouhlal, and Omar Benmoussa (Founders of Chauffeur Privé – Kapten (acquired by Free Now), as well as early investments from global and regional VCs like Nordstar and Impact46.
Mehdi Chraibi, Adnan Haque, and Sameer Poonja founded Spades. The platform enables customers to pay their bill quickly and easily by scanning a code or tapping to pay, with no downloads or registration required, resulting in shorter queues. Spades is a fast and secure payment solution that works with all major POS systems and makes refunds and reconciliation simple.
The Middle East’s restaurant sector is rapidly expanding, and the UAE provides a broad and dynamic dining experience. Spades aims to keep up with the changing demands while also ensuring a comfortable checkout experience for dine-in guests. Adnan Haque, a Co-Founder of Spades, stated: “With Spades, we have created a seamless payment portal that is fast, secure, and convenient. Our goal is to give back time to customers and restaurants, and create a perfect “phy-gital” harmony that helps achieve an exceptional dine-in experience.”
A variety of partner restaurants have already signed on with Spades. Alex Economides, Co-Founder and Managing Director of NOLA Social House & Eatery, commented: “Since starting with Spades we’ve noticed our staff having more time to engage with guests at the end of their dine-in visit. Rather than running around at peak hours printing bills and collecting payments.”
The startup is growing its team and plans to expand throughout the GCC and beyond. Saud Alsahaf, an Investment Associate at Impact46, added: “F&B is an important industry in the local market, and Spades is offering a powerful digital solution to improve the experience for all stakeholders in the value chain. We look forward to making Spades the standard for restaurant payment.”