Cairo-based Contech Elmawkaa, connecting construction material suppliers with buyers via their Tech-integrated platform, has successfully raised 6 figures in its latest funding round.
The Seed round was led by Flat6labs and joined by a Group of Oqal angels from Saudi Arabia after joining 500 Startups (now 500 Global) in Misk’s second batch in 2019.
Founded in 2017 by Ebrahem Anwar, Mahmoud Habib, and Mohamed Thabet, Elmawkaa makes buying and selling building materials easier through its meticulous matching algorithms. Customers looking to buy building materials can use the website to request quotations through high-quality suppliers on the platform and compare between them.
As we release our Q3 2021 Venture Investment reports this week, we observe a positive uptick in the Egyptian startup ecosystem and VC Space. Despite closing 10% fewer deals in 2021 YTD, Egypt-based startups observed a 130% YoY growth in funding which bodes well for the future growth of the ecosystem. While overshadowed by largely-funded sectors like Transport & Logistics or E-commerce in Egypt, this latest funding round adds to the stellar 826% YoY growth in funding observed by construction & infrastructure startups this year.
The Cairo-based startup took part in 500startups in late 2019 and has made big strides since graduating from the accelerator. Elmawkaa onboarded more than 1000 suppliers organically and aggregated more than 4.5K contractors requesting quotations with GMV reaching more than $1M. Co-founder and CEO Ebrahem Anwar highlighted the pioneering proposition of the platform “We are not a listing or ordinary marketplace, we are digitilizing and innovating the process of buying building materials through a bidding process and our matching Algorithms which we built with our hands that deliver accurate and competitive quotations based on our experience in Engineering, business, and software development in the last decade.”
Elmawkaa’s focus on buying and selling building materials complemented with their customer-centric approach is positioned as uncharted territory as they unlock new possibilities for the construction market as the first Tech-driven movers in that space. Co-Founder and CBO Mohamed Thabet elaborated on the back works of their go-to-market strategy “I still remember the first campaign we have launched and the first client we have dealt with, the issue was like the sea in its beginning and we were not fully aware what were the best categories that we can penetrate the market through and generate revenues.
Shall we start with suppliers or contractors? How can we achieve customer satisfaction if we are not covering all their building material needs yet? But after many A/B tests, experiments, and exerting double efforts to deal with our shortages, we were able to determine a complete framework from which to start, following a clear strategy “focus then expand”. Since then we know our unit economics and have our KPIs to achieve Month over Month growth.”
The Cairo-based ConTech plans to utilize its newly acquired funds to support its growth and expansion plans as Co-Founder Mahmoud Habib elaborated “In 2022, we plan to onboard 2K suppliers, reach 4K transactions with $2M GMV and in 2023 we will penetrate all Egyptian cities, onboard +4K suppliers, and list +10k products, 11K transactions with $6M as a GMV.”
As Elmawkaa continues to scale and plans on growing into the Saudi markets, Mohamed Thabet concluded with the main drivers behind the platform’s success “our success in closing partnerships with the biggest suppliers, and key players in the market was a strong validation for what we are offering to the market, it enlightened the way in our most important periods and was a sign to keep going.”
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From The GFA Team
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