Lola Raises $3 Million Seed Round Transforming Cake Ordering Across MENA
The fast-growing cake ordering and customisation platform secures seed funding led by Vision Ventures, setting a new standard for how people experience celebrations across the region.
A Platform Born from Frustration
Lola, the fast-growing cake ordering and customisation platform, has raised $3 million in a seed funding round led by Vision Ventures with participation from Aljazira Capital, Seedra Ventures, Plus VC, and other investors — reflecting strong investor confidence in its business model and ability to scale. Lola's goal is to transform how people experience celebrations across the MENA region.
But Lola didn't start as a cake business — it started by solving a frustrating experience: ordering a cake the way you want it. Ordering a customised cake has always been complicated, involving endless back-and-forth with bakeries, trying to explain an idea that only exists in your mind, often resulting in something that doesn't quite match expectations.
This gap is what Lola set out to fix. Founded in 2023 by serial entrepreneur Othman Janahi, Lola turns the process into a seamless digital experience. Instead of describing your idea, you actually see it, shape it, and refine it directly within the platform. The goal is simple: what you imagine is precisely what you get, delivered fast.
What began in Bahrain quickly proved to be more than just a convenient idea — it was something people were actively looking for. Within a short period, Lola expanded into Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait, growing rapidly as demand surged across the region.
Funding as Fuel for Expansion
Lola's early model relied on local bakeries to fulfil orders. While this enabled fast expansion, it had its limitations. The newly raised funding will support the development of a central production facility in Dammam, designed to bring consistency, control, and scalability to the business.
The model blends centralised production with distributed "cloud bakeries" in key cities, allowing Lola to maintain quality while scaling efficiently across markets. This infrastructure investment marks a deliberate shift — from marketplace aggregator to vertically integrated FoodTech platform.
The hybrid model: By combining a central Dammam production hub with cloud bakeries in key cities, Lola achieves what most food platforms struggle to balance — the quality control of centralised production with the speed and reach of a distributed local network.
Voices from the Round
Vision Ventures — Lead Investor
Kais Al Essa, Founding Partner and CEO of Vision Ventures, highlighted the scale of the opportunity: with a market size of $9.5 billion in 2025 projected to reach over $12 billion by 2030, this is one of the largest segments in F&B. He added that Othman and his team showed courage and perfect execution in scaling Lola to where it is today, and that Vision Ventures is proud to back such ambitious founders bringing innovative solutions to the masses.
Plus VC — Participating Investor
Hasan Haider, Founder and Managing Partner at Plus VC, noted that Lola is setting a new benchmark by leveraging technology to streamline a traditionally fragmented industry. The platform has demonstrated strong value creation for customers, reflected in its rapid demand growth across markets. He expressed belief in Othman and his team's ability to identify operational bottlenecks and proactively evolve their model — a strategy aligned for long-term scalability that positions them strongly to expand across MENA and capture a meaningful share of the celebrations space.
Othman Janahi — Founder, Lola
Janahi added that with strong demand and a clear roadmap, Lola is closing the gap between imagination and reality — making perfection the standard for every celebration.
Beyond Cakes: The Celebration Platform Vision
For Lola, this is only the beginning. While cake customisation remains at its core, the company is expanding toward a broader vision: becoming a full celebration platform encompassing gifting, decoration, and the moments that bring people together.
The ambition is clear — Lola isn't just about cakes, it's about making every celebration feel exactly as it was imagined. The digital-first approach, which allows customers to visualise, shape, and refine their creations directly within the platform, sets the foundation for an end-to-end celebrations experience.
- Cake Customisation: The core product — a seamless digital experience where what you imagine is precisely what you get.
- Gifting: Expanding into complementary celebration products curated for the region.
- Decoration: Building toward a full-suite celebrations offering beyond food.
- Central Production Hub: The Dammam facility anchors quality, consistency, and operational control at scale.
The MENA opportunity: The regional cake and celebrations market is projected to grow from $9.5B in 2025 to over $12B by 2030. A young, digital-native population across the Gulf — with high disposable income and an appetite for personalised experiences — creates ideal conditions for Lola's model to thrive.
