A business built around increasingly customized ready-to-eat meals has netted Middle Eastern startup Calo a sizeable funding injection as it looks to expand both what it can offer its time-strapped customers and where it delivers its growing range of just-heat-to-eat dishes. The meal delivery market in the Middle East will hit $11.2 billion by 2030, according to a report from MarkNtel Advisors published last year. Food aggregators such as Careem, Deliveroo, and Talabat have built big businesses by banking on the habits of busy professionals ordering food in rather than making meals themselves ' fueled in large part by the COVID-19 pandemic. Riyadh-based Calo differentiates itself by offering customized meal subscriptions for specialized segments like weight loss, high protein intake, or balanced meals ' targeting customers who care what they are eating, not merely when their food will arrive. The startup plans to further lean into meal customization to cater to more personalized...
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