SPICE has emerged from stealth with a launch in Saudi Arabia, framing itself as a premium dining and restaurant-tech platform for the GCC. The company says it is redefining how restaurants access growth capital while shaping how diners discover and experience venues. Its pitch centers on aligning incentives between operators and guests to turn capital into measurable demand.
Market Entry
Saudi Arabia is SPICE’s first market, chosen for its fast-evolving hospitality scene and openness to innovation. The founders describe the Kingdom as a natural launchpad, citing ambition, investment, and a receptive dining culture. The rollout begins in Riyadh, with the company positioning for a high-end, experience-led segment.
The Dining Capital Model
At the heart of SPICE is a financing approach it calls Dining Capital, which offers upfront, non-dilutive, non-debt funding. Rather than repayment through loans or equity, the model routes payback through diners who are driven to partner restaurants via SPICE’s platform. The company argues this structure promotes independence for operators, lowers risk, and outperforms traditional marketing or financing in return alignment.
Product Experience
SPICE pairs its capital with a premium app that curates venues, streamlines reservations, and personalizes the dining journey. The product is designed to attract high-value guests, with exclusive rewards that aim to build durable loyalty for partner restaurants. The app launches in invite-only mode, signaling a controlled onboarding to maintain quality and experience consistency.
Founders and Track Record
SPICE is led by co-founders Zeid Husban, Wadi Hawi, and Yousef Sawalha, who previously built and exited ifood.jo to Delivery Hero in 2016 and POSRocket to Foodics in 2022. The team draws on more than 15 years of hospitality technology operations across the region. That operating history informs a “by operators, for operators” ethos focused on practical outcomes rather than promotional metrics.
Technology and Personalization
Chief Technology Officer Yousef Sawalha is combining AI with human curation to tailor recommendations and context. The aim is to make preferences, timing, and occasion integral to how restaurants are surfaced and how experiences are delivered. SPICE characterizes dining as cultural expression, and the software is intended to reflect that with adaptive interfaces and relevant incentives.
Funding and Rollout
SPICE says it is backed by regional hospitality and tech investors who support its economic realignment thesis for restaurants. Founding restaurant partners in Riyadh will be announced in early 2026 as the platform scales across the city’s upscale dining market. The company plans to extend into the UAE, the wider GCC, and select European markets over the next two years.
Outlook
The success of Dining Capital will depend on whether SPICE can consistently convert capital into profitable footfall for operators. Execution will require rigorous partner selection, sustained guest acquisition, and measurable unit economics for both sides. If the model holds, SPICE could become a destination brand for dining while offering an alternative to debt, equity, and ad-spend heavy growth.
SPICE is positioning itself as both financier and demand engine, seeking to shift restaurant growth from borrowed money to booked tables. By starting in Saudi Arabia and targeting premium diners, the company is testing its thesis in a market known for rapid hospitality innovation. The next milestones, including partner announcements and regional expansion, will show whether Dining Capital scales beyond a novel launch to a durable category.