Saudi fintech Geidea has partnered with Gastro-Trends, the F&B arm of MDLBEAST, to provide payment and restaurant management solutions at four of the region’s biggest music festivals, namely Aravia, XP Music Futures, Soundstorm and Balad Beast.
Geidea, which already caters to the Kingdom’s thriving F&B sector with more than 52,000 restaurants and cafes, will supply a point-of-sale restaurant management system and payment terminals at the international star-studded events, with 600 terminals serving more than 150 merchants and brands on site.
More than 700,000 are expected to attend the mega events, two of which are in Riyadh and one in both Jeddah and Doha.
Laurent Dhaeyer, group chief strategy and growth officer at Geidea, said: “Our new-generation, fully integrated, cloud-based POS systems offer F&B and retail businesses the best-in-market point-of-sale solutions that can respond to the ever-evolving needs of customers. We are delighted to partner with Gastro-Trends to offer our safe, secure and seamless payments solutions to cater for the hundreds of thousands of festivalgoers.”
MDLBEAST, which boasts artists including Post Malone, Eric Prydz, Carl Cox, Bruno Mars and DJ Khaled, is a global and creative platform setting the tone for music, art and culture and shifting the epicenter of underground music. Starting with Saudi and echoing outwards, MDLBEAST supports artists in creating experiences that move people and, in turn, make people move.
Alex Gorman, project director, F&B, MDLBEAST/Gastro-Trends, said: “MDLBEAST events have become some of the biggest and best music events on the international calendar. It’s all about creating a memorable experience for everyone who attends and that includes being able to provide swift and simple payment solutions when it comes to buying F&B. Our collaboration with Geidea, a fellow homegrown Saudi brand, does just that.”
Founded in Saudi Arabia, Geidea is expanding rapidly across the region with operations in the UAE and Egypt. It is targeting seven more countries in the next two years, serving both financial institutions and small and medium businesses.