With over 6 years of professional experience in live reporting, news research and writing, documentary filmmaking, news documentaries, creative writing, oral history and life interviews, archiving, and field research, I believe, I have found my niche interests in recording trauma, loss, grief, displacement and memory. I've worked for national and international publications including prominent ones like LA Times, France 2, Channel News Asia, Arte, France 24, and the 1947 Partition Archive. Additionally, my intuitive built towards a humanistic approach has added to my skills of UX writing, psychology, empathetic listening, and communication.

Contributing Writer

Avantika Seth

The Growing Business of Foodtech

Articles

Saudi Arabia

2023 Foodtech Revolution: Emerging Industry Trends

Revolutionizing the Foodtech Industry: Emerging Trends in 2023

Food Tech

Ashok is a storyteller who uses numbers as his medium. He loves to crunch data, analyze it, and investigate deeper questions until the stories begin to emerge on their own. Ashok comes from a finance and consulting background, having worked in the strategy consulting and private equity fields across the Middle East and Emerging Asia for over 15 years, prior to becoming a business writer. When it comes to tech stories, Ashok has a penchant for startups in the fintech, B2B SaaS, AI and ML spaces. He loves writing about Venture Capital, M&A and the general investor landscape of startup ecosystems.
Ashok holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, as well as a diploma in Finance. He speaks English and Hindi fluently.

Researcher

Ashok Raman

Six Graphs that Map Out Foodtech in MENA (including Israel)

6 Graphs that Map Out Foodtech in MENA

Erika is Co-Founder and Chief Content Officer at Lucidity Insights. Having  spent 15 years advising Fortune 500 companies  and multinational conglomerates  from around the world on how to grow businesses in emerging markets, Erika found that data and knowledge underpinned and empowered strategic decision-making. The creation of Lucidity Insights was inspired by the idea that strategic C-suite level data and insights could empower startups and Venture Capitalists in the MENAPT region, elevating the entire regional entrepreneurial ecosystem. 

Data is not just for the Chief Executive, or the data analyst after-all. Democratizing access to quality data across the tech ecosystem will elevate every startup and every investors’ decision-making, and thus, benefit the economy, overall.

Erika has worked with data to develop comprehensive business success stories and strategies for her entire professional career. She is a thought leader in growth strategies in fast-moving emerging markets, with a focus on Middle Eastern and Asian Markets. She is an expert on the startup ecosystems in the Middle East, and a thought leader on entrepreneurship, disruptive technologies and sustainability. She has worked with both government and corporates clients, across over 30 different industry verticals and in over 40 countries. She is best described as a data-curious strategic thinker and advisor, who also happens to be an  enthusiastic storyteller and writer.

Erika graduated from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business with an Executive MBA (MSx), and also holds degrees from McGill University (B.Sc Neuroscience) and the University of Cambridge (Sustainability in Business). She speaks English and Japanese, is conversational in French, and speaks survival Arabic. In her spare time, she is an avid globe trotter, having travelled to over 70 countries, and counts scuba-diving, free-diving and yoga among her favourite activities. She is a self-described wellness-junkie and adventure enthusiast. She is also a dog mum.

Co-Founder & Chief Content Officer

Erika Masako Welch

Unveiling Data Insights Behind the Rise of Foodtech

Data Points That Help Explain the Emergence of Foodtech

Global Foodtech Unicorn Success Stories

India

Foodtech Startups in the Middle East Raise over US $2.6 Billion in the past Two Years

We are a team of passionate Researchers, Data Junkies, and Story-Tellers that believe there is not enough quality business insights and compelling data analysis available in the marketplace, told in the formats users want. We want to give an insider's look into the industries, businesses and economies that are changing the world today, so our users can become inspired, empowered and equipped to run their businesses as best they can.

Lucidity Insights Research Team

Infobytes

In the MENA Region, Foodtech & F&B Industry Number of Funding Rounds Split Between Scaleup and Startups

Foodtech & F&B Industry Number of Funding Rounds Split Between Scaleup and Startups

Cumulative Number of Foodtech Unicorns Shows the World has More Foodtech Unicorns, Doubling in the Past Two Years

Cumulative Number of Foodtech Unicorns (to Q1 2022)

Global Foodtech Exit Activity by Year Showing the Foodtech Exits Slow Down in Q1 2023

Global Foodtech Exit Activity by Year (2018-2023)

Global Foodtech Deal Activity by Quarter has Seen a Declining Trend Since Q1 2022

Global Foodtech Deal Activity by Quarter (2018-2023)

More Food Security Issues We Face that Foodtech Could Help Address

Food Security Issues that Foodtech Could Help Address (2)

Pure Harvest's Entrepreneurial Journey as the Pioneer in the Sustainable Agriculture

Pure Harvest's Entrepreneurial Journey

UAE & Saudi Startups Dominate the Top 5 Most Funded Foodtech Scaleups in MENA List

Top 5 Most Funded Foodtech Scaleups in MENA (2023)

Over the Past Decade, Restaurant Management Software VC Deal Activity Has Seen a Significant Rise

Restaurant Management Software VC Deal Activity

The Top 10 Saudi-Born Startups That Have Been Funded to Date Plus Honorable Mentions

Top 10 Funded KSA-Born Startups to Date + Honourable Mentions

Foodics has Been the Region’s Most Prominent Foodtech-Meets-Fintech Player Since 2014

Foodics Growth Story in Numbers (2014-2023)

Which MENA and GCC Countries Account for Largest Funding Raised by Foodtech Scaleups?

Which MENA Countries Account for Largest Funding Raised by Foodtech Scaleups?

Foodtech & F&B Industry Total Scaleup Funding has Secured a Total of $2.93 Billion in Funding Between January 2021 to June 2023

Foodtech & F&B Industry Total Scaleup Funding by Year

Global Foodtech Funding Deal Activity by Sector

Global Foodtech Deal Activity by Sector

Global Foodtech Deal Activity by Year (2018 to First Quarter of 2023)

Global Foodtech Deal Activity by Year (2018 to Q1 2023)

Food Security Issues that Foodtech Solutions Could Help Address

Food Security Issues that Foodtech Could Help Address

Top 10 Most Funded Foodtech Startups in the Middle East and North Africa region to Date

Top 10 Most Funded Foodtech Scaleups in MENA to Date

Anamika  is a change maker with 15+ years of management consulting, project management, event management and research experience. Having worked for Accenture for over a decade, she began her career overseeing change management and digital learning and development programs across Fortune 500 clients globally. 
Today, Anamika works with select clients on large-scale change programs, and writes whenever she can. As a life-long learner, and lover of writing, she found herself becoming an excellent interviewer, story-teller and speaker. She is passionate about giving voice to startups, projects and new technologies that are nearing break-through. She is curious about the intersection between technology, human behaviour and wellness, and is often most intrigued by startups that help people live better and happier lives.  
Anamika received her BA in Economics and Chinese Studies from the University of Nottingham. She is London born and bred, and splits her time between London and Dubai. She is a certified HIIT instructor, NLP coach and world traveler with a love of experimental cooking.

Anamika Patel

Aby Sam Thomas

Special Reports

United States

The Business of Impact Investing in 2023 - Test

Crypto, Blockchain & Web3

Special Report: "The Growing Business of Foodtech"

Special Report: "Sustainable International Trade for a Resilient Future"

Sustainable International Trade for a Resilient Future

Sustainability

Special Report: "Opportunities in Web3"

Opportunities in Web3

Dubai's Venture Capital Ecosystem

Entrepreneurship

The Future of Fintech in Africa

Fintech

Diriyah and the Giga Projects: Defining the New Saudi Arabia

Tourism

Saudi Arabia's Startup Ecosystem Evolution 2010-2022

The Evolution of Saudi Arabia's Startup Ecosystem 2010-2022

Dubai's Digital Economy and Its Growing Startup Ecosystem

Dubai’s Digital Economy and Its Expanding Startup Ecosystem

MENA's M&A Landscape 2017-2022: A Comprehensive Review

The Middle East & North Africa’s M&A Landscape 2017-2022

Economies

Sustainable Innovations and Startups in the MENA Region

Innovations In International Trade

Egypt's Burgeoning Start-Up Ecosystem

Dubai’s Roadmap to Becoming the Digital Economy Capital of the World

The Electric Vehicle Revolution: Growth & Challenges Ahead

The Electric Vehicle Revolution Has Arrived

Bringing The World to Saudi

Shaping the Future of Fintech in MENA

Shaping The Future of Fintech

An ultimate guide to fintech in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The Crypto Universe: Insights into Blockchain & DeFi

The Crypto Universe

Primed for Growth Cloud Kitchens in the GCC

Primed for Growth: Cloud Kitchens in the GCC

<a href="https://lucidityinsights.com/">Lucidity Insights</a> in partnership with&nbsp;<a href="http://www.entrepreneur.com/en-ae" target="_blank">Entrepreneur Middle East</a> and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.foodics.com/">Foodics</a>&nbsp;recently published a Special Report titled &ldquo;The Growing Business of Foodtech,&rdquo; which sheds light on the global foodtech industry and its unicorns, and details the hot up-and-coming trends in the sector according to the latest funding data. &nbsp;

Globally, <a href="https://lucidityinsights.com/topics/food-tech">foodtech</a> hit an all-time-high in 2021, when the sector raised a landmark US $46.8 billion across 1,987 deals. 2022 saw a market stabilization back to the US $21.4 billion invested, which was typical of years before. Time will tell if the VC winter has taken hold of the sector in 2023, but preliminary data for the year show a slowdown in foodtech exits. By the end of Q1 2023, there were only 15 exits for VC-backed foodtech startups worth a combined US $1 billion. There were no IPOs and only one buyout, leaving M&amp;A deals to make up the majority of exits during the quarter, indicating a period of consolidation has begun. &nbsp;

<img src="https://d1477w6a38me2o.cloudfront.net/uploads/foodtech-2/infobytes/03.jpg" />&nbsp;Due to the popularity of food delivery marketplaces, aggregators and q-commerce players feeding consumers&rsquo; appetites for quickly delivered groceries and ready-to-eat meals, e-Commerce still dominates Foodtech&rsquo;s deal activity around the world; but it is alternative protein or Alt-Protein players that have been steadily growing their share of investor funding in the past 18 months. If it&rsquo;s lab-grown meat via cell cultivation, or plant-based or insect-based meat, it seems investors are hoping the reduced ecological footprint and lower time and resource cost will mean efficiencies to meet the world&rsquo;s ever-growing demand for protein. As the global human population grows from 8 billion to 10 billion by 2050, there will be much work to be done to ensure all mouths are fed, and little food produced is wasted. &nbsp;

Other hot trends discussed in the Special Report include predictive analytics used in Agtech, 3D printing food, personalized nutrition, restaurant SaaS, artificial intelligence minimizing food wastage, creating efficiencies in the supply chain, and new fintechs delivering quick financial aid to f&amp;b establishments, based on algorithm&rsquo;s which determine ability to pay, based on daily customer orders and POS data. &nbsp;

<img src="https://d1477w6a38me2o.cloudfront.net/uploads/foodtech-2/articles/launch/2.jpg" />&nbsp;Beyond the global data, the report highlights the regional heavy-weights in the Foodtech scene, from unicorn <a href="https://lucidityinsights.com/spotlights/kitopi-dubais-latest-foodtech-unicorn">Kitopi</a>&nbsp;to expected soonicorns, <a href="https://lucidityinsights.com/spotlights/foodics-the-regions-most-prominent-foodtech-meets-fintech-player">Foodics</a>&nbsp;and Pure Harvest; each of which have made the region&rsquo;s most funded foodtech startups list. Others like KLC Virtual Restaurants, Yango Tech, KASO, and Yango Delivery are carving out market leading roles for themselves, and expanding methodically across the region. These are just some of the 356 foodtech startups from across the MENA region that have raised some kind of capital since January 2010. &nbsp;

&nbsp;

<h3>Read the full <a href="https://lucidityinsights.com/reports/the-growing-business-of-foodtech">Special Report</a> to get all the market data, insights and up-to-date stories on these remarkable entrepreneurial journeys. &nbsp;</h3>

Spotlights

KASO Is Reshaping the Food Procurement Industry, Looking To Achieve $1 Billion GMV by 2024

Yango Tech: Tech Stack for Profitable E-Grocery

KLC Virtual Restaurants: Cloud Kitchens Re-Imagined

Nazmia is a young writer passionate about making complex data and research more approachable, understandable and entertaining. She’s always been an educator at heart, taking on mentorship roles teaching creative and business writing to the scientific community. She is currently pursuing her passion at the intersection of technology and healthcare through a Masters degree in Biomedical Engineering. When she’s not in the lab pouring herself into the magic of tissue engineering and reconstruction, she’s writing and educating the world about all things biotech, healthtech, insurtech and edutech. If you're looking for practical insights with a touch of whimsy, Nazmia is the voice to follow with a fresh perspective on the ever-evolving digital and tech industry. 
Nazmia holds a BS in Biology and is currently pursuing her MS in Biomedical Engineering at the American University of Beirut. She specializes in cartilage tissue research, and uses her writing as a therapeutic escape to produce captivating pieces that take her readers on a journey with every word.