A new Dubai-headquartered startup is entering the UAE’s competitive food and beverage scene, offering an AI-assisted public relations platform for restaurants of all sizes. ItsRaw.ai, co-founded by marketing agency veterans Jonathan Ivan-Duke and Mir Murtaza Khurshid, aims to give F&B outlets a cost-effective tool to generate media coverage and attract more customers. The platform targets the UAE’s restaurant industry, which reportedly spends an estimated $1 billion annually on marketing and PR.
Quick Facts
- AI-powered PR platform for restaurants.
- Founded by PR veterans Jonathan Ivan-Duke and Mir Murtaza Khurshid.
- Targeting the UAE’s $1 billion F&B marketing industry.
An Affordable Alternative in a Crowded Market
ItsRaw.ai is positioning itself as an accessible solution for an industry where marketing budgets can be a significant hurdle. With monthly subscriptions starting at AED 367 ($100), the platform promises to help restaurants share their news and offers for “the price of a brunch.”
The platform provides users with options for ‘self-write’ or ‘AI assisted’ content creation. This copy can then be used on a restaurant’s own channels or distributed to the platform’s extensive list of media contacts, bloggers, influencers, and food critics across the UAE.
“We help restaurants of all sizes share their stories to help drive more customers through the door,” said ItsRaw.ai co-founder, Jonathan Ivan-Duke. “There are more than 28,000 F&B outlets across the UAE and we need to support them, now more than ever. We enable any restaurateur, regardless of their marketing experience or budgets, to tell a great story about their venue.”
How It Works: PR in Three Steps
The platform is designed to be straightforward, allowing even operators with no marketing background to create newsworthy content quickly. The process involves three main steps:
- The restaurant creates a profile with key details, allowing the platform to ‘learn’ about its location, cuisine, and unique selling points.
- Users add information about their latest news or offers through a series of guided options to generate a press release.
- Once the content is ready, it can be sent directly to media contacts across the UAE.
“In the time it takes to boil an egg, you can set up a restaurant profile, tell the platform about your latest offers and send to a refined media database,” added co-founder Mir Murtaza Khurshid. “We believe it is the fastest, easiest and cheapest way to share restaurant stories with the most influential audiences.”
From Agency Founders to Tech Entrepreneurs
The founding team brings significant industry experience to the new venture. Ivan-Duke and Khurshid are the founders of the marketing and PR agency duke+mir. Ivan-Duke is a former Sky broadcast journalist who previously led PR for a FTSE 100 company and helped launch major brands like Airbnb and Savills in the Middle East.
Khurshid has over 15 years of experience in integrated marketing, having worked with well-known brands such as Five Guys, Tashas Group, and Taj Hotels, as well as high-profile venues including Il Borro, Hutong, and 99 Sushi.
The platform also intends to solve a common frustration for media editors by structuring the content to include all necessary details like location, timings, price, and booking information, making it easier for journalists to cover the story or schedule a review.
About ItsRaw.ai
Founded by marketing, PR, and technology specialists, ItsRaw.ai provides a fast and effective way for restaurants to create more visibility on trusted media channels. The web-based platform helps individuals create newsworthy content through a series of guided questions, ensuring crucial information is always included for media, bloggers, and influencers.
Source: Zawya
