Mezza Launches in UAE, Offering Restaurants Non-Dilutive Capital Boost

Mohammed Fathy

Last updated 29-03-2026

4 min

UAE platform Mezza launches, offering upfront capital for future food and beverage credit.

It provides AED 20,000 to AED 10 million without debt or equity dilution.

Credit is redeemed over 12 months, driving repeat visits and steadier footfall.

Several major hospitality groups have joined, backed by a strong seed round.

Its success hinges on balancing redemption rates, diner expectations and restaurant margins.

In a market where restaurant margins can feel paper-thin and traditional financing is, frankly, a bit of a faff, a new UAE-based platform is stepping in with a different pitch. Mezza has officially launched, offering hospitality venues upfront capital in exchange for future food and beverage credit, a model designed to avoid both debt and equity dilution.

Timing, as they say, is everything. Across the UAE, restaurant operators are navigating shifting consumer behaviour and a tougher political and economic climate. Footfall is harder won. Loyalty is fragile. And access to growth capital without giving away a slice of the business? Not always easy.

Mezza is targeting exactly that pain point.

The platform provides between AED 20,000 and AED 10 million to restaurants upfront. Instead of loans or interest payments, the funding is structured as an advance against future food and beverage credit. In simple terms, Mezza buys credit from partner restaurants at a wholesale rate, then distributes that credit to its app members over time. Diners redeem it gradually, usually across a 12-month period, which helps spread the cost for the restaurant while driving repeat visits through the door.

“Restaurants often face two major challenges: access to capital and the ability to consistently attract new customers,” said Kevin Boublil, Founder of Mezza. “Mezza was built to solve both. We provide funding without debt or dilution while helping restaurants bring more diners through their doors, not just on weekends, but throughout the year.”

It’s a straightforward value exchange, at least on paper. Restaurants receive immediate cash flow to reinvest in operations or expansion, while Mezza’s member base is channelled towards those venues, creating a more predictable stream of diners. And believe it or not, predictability can be worth its weight in gold in hospitality.

Since its debut, Mezza has partnered with several well-known names, including Gates Hospitality, Rosy Hospitality, Chic Nonna and Fab Food Co., with more concepts said to be joining. The focus is on curated casual to fine dining venues, selected based on quality and guest experience rather than pure scale.

To fuel its expansion, the company has also closed what it describes as a major seed round. Backers include the founders of PropertyFinder and Jellysmack, as well as the chairman of Deel, a roster that signals serious ambition in the tech-meets-hospitality space.

“Our goal is to empower restaurants to grow on their own terms,” Boubil added, noting that many independent operators struggle to secure financing without giving up ownership. The platform, he argues, offers an alternative that supports financial stability while driving steady footfall in a competitive market.

I’ve seen first-hand how founders in the F&B space across MENA can be chuffed to bits when they finally secure funding, only to realise later the strings attached are heavier than expected. Models that promise non-dilutive capital will always turn heads. That said, execution is everything. The success of this approach will depend on how well Mezza can balance diner expectations, redemption rates and restaurant margins without tipping the scales too far in one direction.

Still, in a region where innovation in fintech often grabs the spotlight, it’s interesting to see that same thinking applied to hospitality. At Arageek, we often hear from entrepreneurs searching for smarter ways to grow without losing control of what they’ve built. Solutions like this will definately spark conversations.

Whether Mezza’s model proves spot on for operators over the long term remains to be seen. But as alternative financing continues to evolve in the UAE, restaurants now have one more option on the table, and in this market, having options is no bad thing at all.

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