RobinFood grabs $16m

RobinFood, a Latin American cloud-restaurant, has raised $16 million in funding. The investor was MGM Sustainable Energy Fund II L.P.

PRESS RELEASE

October 02 – 2020. RobinFood (previously Muy), the leading cloud-restaurant in LatAm, today announces it has secured a $16 million debt funding (as a complement of the Series B round of financing) from MGM Sustainable Energy Fund II L.P. (MSEF II), a green and sustainable capital fund that focuses on infrastructure projects with triple impact – social, environmental and economic – in Latin America and the Caribbean. The investment marks a total of $36 million funding to date with RobinFood receiving investment from leading Mexican fund ALLVP and leading Spanish fund Seaya Ventures in the last two years, representing a boost to the food tech industry in LatAm.

RobinFood, which was previously known as Muy, recently made the decision to agglomerate its physical and virtual restaurants within the corporate brand RobinFood, positioning itself as the leading cloud-restaurant company in the region. Its business model uses technology to leverage the union of cloud kitchens and traditional restaurants, allowing the company to have an omni-channel and multi-brand business model. The company is committed to transforming the food industry with the use of integrated technology throughout its creation chain value, with innovations aimed at achieving excellence in customer experience and operational efficiency.

The new financing will enable RobinFood to further accelerate its growth across Colombia, Mexico and Brazil. The business plans to add another 3500 brand-locations in Latin America over the next 5 years combining an innovative, high-quality model focused on understanding the needs of an underserved market, valued at $308 billion and with an annual growth of 9%[1]. The company has transformed in recent months by accelerating the launch of its own restaurant brands with eight already on the market across Colombia, Mexico and Brazil and having grown 5x its delivery sales from February to September of 2020.

“Thanks to the trust of our investors, we are the leading cloud-restaurant company in Latin America, and we have set the goal of selling more than one billion dollars annually by 2026. We want to continue investing in creating the best brands and technology for more than 467 million people who are part of the emerging Latin American middle class”, said the CEO and co-founder of RobinFood, José Guillermo Calderón. He adds: “We are proud to have our RobinFooders team develop this unique company that is revolutionizing the tech and restaurant industry. We are faithful to our purpose of giving access to good affordable food to all Latin Americans, and at the same time, being an ally of the region in terms of development, job creation and technological advances.”

The investment in RobinFood will take place in various phases, including energy efficient equipment on a lease basis. The first installment consists of $5 million and the total investment may be up to $16 million and will benefit Colombia, Mexico and Brazil.
The MSEF II fund, operated by MGM Innova Capital[2], currently manages more than $125 million and operates different investments in energy efficiency and clean energy benefitting various countries in Latin America and the Caribbean (with a key focus in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica) in sectors such as the industrial, residential and commercial. The main fund’s investors are the BID – Invest, GEEREF, JICA, FMO, European Investment Bank, BIO, KFW DEG, PROPARCO, CTF y MGM Innova Capital.

“We became interested in RobinFood due to its capacity to include efficient energy sources in their operation, whilst having positive and tangible impacts in the finance, social and environmental areas. RobinFood is committed to high-quality service, good food and fair prices, classifying it as an inclusive company in all aspects of its operation. We also believe in its accelerated expansion process in the region, and in the innovative model that seeks to generate a significant change within traditional food services,” stated Alejandro Paz, Investment Director of MGM Innova Capital.

In the last two years, RobinFood received another important investment by the leading Mexican fund ALLVP and the leading Spanish fund Seaya Ventures for more than USD $20 million, destined to the development of the business in Mexico, Brazil and Colombia.
Finally, it is important to highlight that RobinFood looks to comply with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which focuses on providing a healthy diet and the reduction of food waste, to support the productive chain from small farmers, to reduce our environment impact, and to train and generate employment as a mechanism to reduce the social gap.

About ROBIN FOOD (before MUY)
RobinFood is the leading Latin American company in cloud-restaurants, with presence in Mexico, Colombia and Brazil. Through its network, it provides good quality food at a good price, thanks to a high technological development that enhances processes in terms of efficiency, agility, quality and sustainability. The company has more than 50 cloud-restaurants in Latin America. Additionally, RobinFood has a presence with its different brands (MUY, El Original, Just Burgers, The Cut, Pixi, Tremendo) in the top delivery apps in Latin America and in their own app with their own delivery team.

It was founded in 2018 by José Calderón and Miguel McAllister, two of the most important entrepreneurs of the last decade in Latin America. They also founded 2 technology-based companies valued at more than 100 million dollars (co-founders of Domicilios.com and Merqueo).

About MGM
MGM offers comprehensive environmental, financial and technical solutions that contribute to sustainable energy management and mitigation and adaptation to climate change. MGM Innova Group has more than 17 years of experience and is made up of three independent and complementary companies: MGM Innova Energy Services, MGM Innova Consulting and MGM Innova Capital.