UAE startup ItsRaw.ai to help restaurants gain visibility - My Startup World - Everything About the World of Startups!

ItsRaw.ai, a new UAE-based restaurant public relations platform developed by duke+mir founders Jonathan Ivan-Duke and Mir Murtaza Khurshid, is pitching an AI-assisted service that promises to help restaurateurs share news and offers “for the price of a brunch.” Priced from AED 367 ($100) per month, the service offers both ‘self-write’ and ‘AI assisted’ content that can be used on a venue’s website or distributed to an extensive list of media, bloggers, influencers and food critics. ItsRaw.ai is initially targeting the UAE market, where the restaurant sector is estimated to spend roughly $1 billion (over AED 3.7 billion) a year on marketing and PR services and includes more than 28,000 F&B outlets.

Direct quote

“We help restaurants of all sizes share their stories to help drive more customers through the door. 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,” said ItsRaw.ai co‑founder Jonathan Ivan‑Duke.

How the platform works

The platform, created by the duke+mir team together with a development group across the UAE and the UK, uses proprietary technology and guided AI prompts to help users produce press-ready copy within minutes. ItsRaw.ai frames the workflow in three simple steps:

• Restaurants fill out a profile containing location, cuisine, menu highlights and unique selling points so the system “learns” the venue.
• To create a press release, users add details about the latest news or offers through guided options and AI assistance where required.
• Once content is generated, it can be sent to a curated media database covering outlets across the UAE.

Content created on the platform is designed not just for distribution but for discoverability: ItsRaw.ai says copy can improve visibility across Google and popular AI platforms such as ChatGPT, and it structures items to ensure editors receive essential details like restaurant name, location, opening hours, pricing and booking information.

Co‑founder Mir Murtaza Khurshid, who was born and raised in Abu Dhabi and has more than 15 years’ experience leading integrated marketing campaigns for brands including Five Guys, Tashas Group and Taj Hotels, added: “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. We believe it is the fastest, easiest and cheapest way to share restaurant stories with the most influential audiences.”

The genesis of ItsRaw.ai leans on the founders’ PR background: duke+mir has operated for more than five years, and Jonathan Ivan‑Duke comes from a journalism and corporate PR background that includes Sky and in‑house PR for a FTSE 100 company, plus launching brands such as Airbnb and Savills in the Middle East. The platform’s name nods to “bringing raw ingredients together with the right technique” to create something special, and is pitched as a lower‑cost alternative for venues looking to complement social spend and aggregator listings while reaching media and influencers more efficiently.