The Jahez story: Jahez's rise to $2.5 billion, and the question that follows
The story of Jahez and its founder Ghassab Al-Mandeel: from a small unit inside Alamat in 2016, to a single funding round led by Impact46, then a listing on Nomu at nearly $2.5 billion, then competition from Keeta and a loss in the first half of 2026.
Full film transcript
In January 2022, a Saudi delivery company listed on the stock market at a valuation of about $2.5 billion.
Today, its value is about a quarter of that.
Its name: Jahez. This is the story of the rise, and the big question that follows.
In 2016, Jahez wasn't a company. It was a small unit inside a Saudi company called Alamat.
Behind it was Ghassab Al-Mandeel, a computer science graduate of King Saud University.
The market then had big names: HungerStation and Talabat.
But Jahez focused on local restaurants and gave them tools to compete digitally.
In 2020 came a single funding round: 137 million riyals, led by Impact46.
The surprise: Jahez was profitable before it listed.
In January 2022, it was listed on the parallel market, Nomu.
And institutional demand was covered about 39 times.
Jahez became a unicorn, listed on the market.
Then it expanded: Kuwait, Bahrain, and a point-of-sale system called Marn.
In 2025, it acquired a majority of Qatar's Snonu, for about $245 million.
But the market changed. A huge Chinese competitor entered: Keeta, part of Meituan.
And a price war began.
In the first half of 2026, Jahez posted a loss, after years of profits.
Today, its market value is about $600 million.
Meaning it fell below a billion and is no longer a unicorn.
The lesson for you as a founder: reaching a billion is hard. Staying there is harder.
Follow us at Saudi Founders.
Detailed figures and sources are in the Jahez profile in the directory.
