Egypt’s FreshSource raises 7-figure Round
Using their intergenerational knowledge running the family’s supply chain business, the Egyptian FreshSource team raises a 7-figure round to expand its B2B Agri Supply chain offering across the region.
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Egypt-based tech startup and B2B agri-supply chain solutions provider FreshSource has successfully raised an undisclosed 7-figure amount in its latest funding round backed by 4DX Ventures and Wamda.
The Cairo-based, fresh food platform, aims to leverage technology and data, to become the leading fresh food distributor in the region, by changing the way fresh goods are sourced, moved, and sold. Moreover, FreshSource aspires to create more sustainable fresh food systems through their tech platform to transform the lives of producers, businesses, consumers and improve the planet.
As recorded in our State of Startup Funding- 2022 Emerging Venture Markets report, the success of the B2B proposition which included the highest funding round of the year closed by Saudi B2B platform Sary regained investors’ focus and confidence in the sector. This trend also took center stage across Emerging Venture Markets, wherein Pakistan for example, major rounds closed by B2B startups Tazah Technologies and Bazaar accounted for 70% of all capital raised in the Pakistan-based E-commerce startups in 2021. The Egypt-based B2B that connects food & grocery retailers with suppliers across Egypt through seamless technology, MaxAB has raised the second-highest E-commerce round and the highest Series A round in 2021. Capiter’s $33M fundraise last year, together with MaxAB’s, accounted for more than 80% of all capital raised in the E-commerce sector in Egypt over 2021.
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Launched by sibling duo in 2019 out of Cairo, Farah, and Omar Emara, FreshSource has built a strong network of thousands of producers and hundreds of businesses, such as restaurants, hotels, online retailers, and traditional retailers supplying them with their fresh fruit and vegetable needs. The company is scaling at a rapid pace and is now serving major customers across 11 Egyptian cities. They developed the startup idea while Farah was working at P&G after spending 4 years immersed in entrepreneurship through Endeavor and Omar was studying Computer Science while working at Goldman Sachs in London. Both saw an opening to leverage technology and data in a very traditional market and build a superior fruit and vegetable sourcing experience for Egyptian businesses. “We saw a substantial market opportunity and believed that with our Management, Finance and Tech background coupled with our family business know-how, we would build a high-growth and impactful business that will introduce new ways of sourcing in the country.” highlighted Farah Emara, CEO & Co-Founder.
For over 30 years, through the duo’s family company Emarco Group, one of the largest cold chain logistics in Egypt, they have worked day and night to source the best produce from around the world and keep it safe in their state of the art facilities. Today,
FreshSource is able to leverage this generational know-how, to source, handle, store and deliver its partners the freshest, highest quality fruit and vegetables. With their diverse and distinctive experiences along with their family›s expertise in the sector, they sought to transform the agriculture sector through data and technology by using their platform to partner directly with producers and farmers, and businesses. In light of this platform-boosting fundraise, Omar Emara, COO & Co-Founder added, “We are proud to have the confidence of some of the strongest investors in the region who share our vision of leveraging data and technology to streamline the inefficient Agri supply chain. This new investment will allow us to continue to bring top talent on board and build the team we need to achieve our mission and accelerate our growth.”
Agriculture is a leading sector in the Egyptian economy, contributing about 11.3% of the country’s gross domestic product and accounting for 28% of all jobs. The agriculture supply chain, which is highly inefficient and complicated, has led to inflated prices, food loss, and low profits for farmers, all problems that FreshSource aims to solve. FreshSource is taking a value chain approach to improve the economic and environmental efficiency of the food supply chain in Egypt where food loss has reached an all-time high of nearly 45% due to improper handling and storage techniques.
According to FreshSource’s plan, the funding will be directed towards further geographical expansion within the Egyptian market, investing in their technology platform, growing the team in Egypt, while also keeping an eye on future expansion in the region. “We’re really excited to partner with Farah and Omar. They’ve shown excellent knowledge of the market and ability to execute so far, and we think that they have the potential to build a really important business in the coming years. Great pricing, reliability, and quality is essential for the agriculture/food industry, and Freshsource is helping to deliver a service quality well ahead of anything else in the market.” concluded Peter Orth, Co-Founder & Managing Partner at 4DX Ventures.
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