Company will open branches on Kingdom’s eastern and western coasts, says CEO Food deliveries soar in UAE and Kuwait during pandemic closures RIYADH: Dubai’s Kitopi shared kitchen platform for online food delivery is set to have a new round of financing later this year amid plans to expand into Saudi Arabia and to launch in Southeast Asia, according to Al Arabiya. Kitopi will turn a profit this year, according to founder and CEO Mohamed Ballout, who added that after opening branches in the Saudi eastern and western coasts, as well as in Qatar and Bahrain, the company will launch in several cities across Southeast Asia later this year, Al Arabiya said, citing Bloomberg. The company provides cooking services to restaurants and homes in places that do not deal directly with the public, which saves operating costs by renting low-cost space or even sharing it with other restaurants. READ MORE: Dubai delivery-only kitchen platform Kitopi raises $60 million to expand Closures during the coronavirus pandemic have been a double-edged sword for Kitopi, as the company closed operations in New York last year as cases spiked, while food deliveries soared in places such as the UAE and Kuwait. The company aims to eventually relaunch its US operations, said Ballout. Kitopi, which raised $60 million last year, is benefiting from a slight increase in the number of investors looking to technology companies in the region, he added. The company has raised nearly $120 million since its inception in 2018 from investors including US-based Lumia Capital, Rise Capital and Knollwood.