Maxab, a Cairo-based B2B e-commerce platform, has disclosed that it secured $40mn in a Series A round led by RMBV, a North African-focused impact investor. IFC, Flourish Ventures, Crystal Stream Capital, Rise Capital, Endeavour Catalyst, and Maxab’s previous investors Beco Capital and 4DX Ventures all participated in the purchase. Maxab’s total investment to date is approximately $45mn, making it one of Egypt’s most well-funded businesses. In September of this year, it raised $6.2mn in a seed round.
“Three years ago we embarked on an ambitious mission to create a more cohesive, transparent, and efficient food and grocery supply chain in Egypt. This additional capital will allow us to continue to give retailers the economies of scale our platform offers while serving many more new customers. Being backed by a diverse group of renowned and experienced investors will enable us to rapidly scale our operations across the MENA region and developing markets,” Belal El-Megharbel, co-founder and CEO of Maxab, said.
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The startup intends to use the fresh funding to grow across Egypt’s major cities by the end of the year, followed by other markets in the region. According to the Egyptian firm, the funds will be utilized to scale recently introduced verticals such as new supply chains and embedded financial solutions.
Maxab was the first company to develop a B2B e-commerce platform in Egypt, serving traditional retailers, but it now faces competition from a number of startups, including Fatura, Capiter, and a few others, who have all launched in the previous two years.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the unique structure of Egypt’s economy, with hundreds of thousands of shopkeepers and small businesses becoming the lifeline of our country at the time of crisis. We are delighted to be backing visionary entrepreneurs that have created a transformative business with impressive growth that is a catalyst for financial inclusion and job creation. We look forward to supporting MaxAB in its next phase of development as they continue delivering on growth and innovation,” Ahmed Badreldin, Managing Partner at RMBV said.
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Ameya Upadhyay, Venture Partner at Flourish Ventures, said, “MaxAB is set to play a central role in retailers’ financial lives — it directly boosts retailers’ profits by reducing the hassle and the cost of buying inventory and, with embedded fintech products in its core offering, customers can easily buy more goods and pay for them seamlessly. With its founding team of seasoned operators who have scaled world-class ventures before, MaxAB is pioneering the global trend towards Embedded Finance. We are proud to back MaxAB as our first investment in Egypt and eager to see the next step in their journey.”
What You Need To Know About Maxab
Maxab is a mobile app that helps small merchants (mom-and-pop stores) in Egypt obtain inventory for their stores. It was founded in 2018 by Belal El-Megharbel and Mohamed Ben Halim. It simplifies store procurement by allowing them to order everything from a single supplier (Maxab), with clear pricing and 24-hour delivery. When it comes to ordering products for its locations, a typical retailer usually has to deal with many suppliers. According to a release, the business has aided over 55,000 shops in Egypt, processing over 1 million orders and creating 1,600 direct employment in the process.
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