Cairo’s Capiter raises $33M Series A
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The Cairo-based B2B e-commerce startup and marketplace Capiter has successfully raised $33M in its latest fundraise. The Series A round was co-led by Quona Capital and MSA Capital alongside key investors Savola Group, Shorooq Partners, Foundation Ventures, Accion Venture Lab, and Derayah Ventures.
Founded in July 2020 by brothers Mahmoud Nouh (former COO and co-founder of SWVL) and Ahmed Nouh, Capiter set an ingenious hybrid model of an E-commerce marketplace with Delivery services and Financial solutions. The Cairo-based startup brings together manufacturers, brands, wholesalers and retailers on one platform with access to on-demand stock products and most importantly credit services.
As most recently recorded in our August 2021 Venture Investment Dashboard, the E-commerce sector ranks the second-most transacted ecosystem in MENA and third-most funded across all industries. MENA-based e-commerce startups have observed an 8% YoY increase in number of transactions closed and a remarkable %73 YOY growth in the amount of funding raised. Most remarkably, looking at the top funding rounds of the year, E-commerce/FinTech hybrid models seemed to be the start target for investors, with deals like Pakistan-based Bazaar’s $30M Series A, Saudi-based Nejree’s $15M Series A, and now Capiter adding to the series of stellar Series A rounds in 2021.
Driven by dynamic Tech and machine learning, the Capiter solutions help brands and manufacturers gain critical insights into the markets they serve, enabling them to access real data to refine their distribution strategies and increase efficiencies. Mahmoud Nouh, being co-founder and former COO of Egyptian ride-hailing unicorn Swvl which recently announced its $1.5Bn exit through a SPAC, has become the founder of two high functioning startups in the region after this latest investment. “As a homegrown startup, we are proud to have built such a sophisticated solution in such a short amount of time,” said Mahmoud, Capiter’s co-founder, and CEO. “Our entire application can be easily customized to each buyer’s needs, providing profitable insights into locations, walk-in rates, best product types, sales volume, and more. All of this adds up to a machine learning model that can actually help the merchant know which inventory items to purchase next. Combined with our value in providing merchants with access to financing through our local bank partnerships, we’ve created an economy-changing solution.”
Capiter represents Quona Capital’s first investment in Egypt. Commenting on the potential of this new partnership Monica Brand Engel, co-founder and Managing Partner highlighted “Capiter’s embedded finance model, combined with its expertise and strong user engagement, can have a dramatic impact on the financial lives of SMEs, helping them optimize their income which helps communities to thrive.”
The FinTech/E-Commerce hybrid model has been proven very successful in geographies like Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE. Capiter plans to utilize its newly acquired funds to further develop its platform and expand its services across Egypt and the Middle East region throughout 2022. Ben Harburg, Partner at MSA Capital concluded “SME supply chain inefficiencies are massive throughout the Middle East. We believe the key blocker is the lack of working capital in the system. Capiter has built an asset-light way to aggregate retailers and suppliers and facilitate credit into the system.”
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