Snoonu Acquires BiteSight to Boost Food Discovery Tech

Qatar’s Snoonu has officially expanded its digital footprint as Snoonu acquires BiteSight, a Y Combinator-backed food-discovery startup, in its first international deal. The acquisition adds video-led restaurant discovery to its digital commerce platform.

The deal gives Snoonu ownership of BiteSight’s product, brand, and underlying technology. The startup’s founders are joining the Qatari company to develop new restaurant-discovery features. The agreement's financial terms were not disclosed.

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Snoonu Acquires BiteSight to Enhance Restaurant Discovery

Founded in New York in 2023, BiteSight connects short-form food videos with restaurant discovery and online ordering. Y Combinator and SurgePoint Capital back the startup.

The app recorded more than 150,000 downloads in the US, reaching No. 2 in the App Store’s Food & Drink category, according to Snoonu. Its model lets users browse videos of dishes from nearby restaurants, discover new places through social activity, and place orders directly.

That approach addresses a limitation of traditional delivery platforms. Customers often search through restaurant listings, static photographs, and ratings to decide what to order. BiteSight puts visual discovery at the centre of that decision.

Integrating Video Tech into Commerce

For Snoonu, the acquisition offers a way to connect food content more directly with transactions. Instead of customers moving from a social platform to a separate delivery app, video-led discovery could become part of the ordering experience itself.

Founded in Qatar in 2019, Snoonu operates across food delivery, quick commerce, e-commerce, last-mile logistics, and business-to-business services.

The BiteSight acquisition supports its broader effort to develop a more comprehensive commerce platform. The goal is a unified experience where customers can discover products and services as well as purchase them.

Future Rollout and Strategic Impact

The startup’s founders will join Snoonu to develop discovery features and help adapt the platform’s approach for regional audiences. However, the companies have not announced a rollout date, specific Gulf markets, or a timeline for integrating BiteSight into Snoonu’s existing app.

BiteSight previously raised $1.5 million from investors including Y Combinator and SurgePoint Capital, alongside executives from companies such as Airbnb and Starbucks. Its early US traction gives Snoonu an established product and technology base to build on rather than developing a video-discovery service entirely in-house.

The acquisition also creates a route for the US-founded startup to develop its next phase within a Gulf-based technology platform, potentially opening access to new restaurant markets and consumer audiences.

Why it Matters to MENA Startups

Snoonu’s move highlights a growing opportunity in digital commerce: making content part of the buying journey, rather than treating it solely as a marketing channel.

For restaurants, video-led discovery could provide another way to reach customers and showcase individual dishes. For consumers, it could make finding new places to eat more visual and personalised. For platforms, it offers a potential way to differentiate their services in a competitive delivery market.

The immediate question is how Snoonu will integrate BiteSight’s technology and introduce it to its regional markets. The acquisition gives it the product and team to pursue that strategy. Customer adoption and merchant participation will determine whether video-driven discovery becomes a meaningful part of its wider commerce business.