Cairo-based ILLA raises $2M Round
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Cairo-based FMCG Logistics company ILLA, secured $2M in its latest funding round. The round was co-led by Watheeq Financial Services and Golden Palm Investments. The round saw participation from Loftyinc Capital Management, Kepple Africa Fund, Cubit Ventures, AUC Angels, Oqal Angel Network, and FLat6Labs Cairo doubling down on its investment in ILLA for the third time.
Founded in 2019 by Mahmoud Elzomor, Alaa Jarkas, Ahmed Sakr, and Hossam Saraya, and shortly joined by a well-versed management team with Mohamed Emera as Director of Growth, Mohamed Kamal as CFO, and Khaled Elzomor as Commercial Director ILLA aims to optimize post-production supply chain activities for FMCG brands, starting with middle-mile delivery services, being the most fragmented part of the value chain.
As most recently recorded in our Egypt Q3 2021 Venture Investment Report, the Transport & Logistics (T&L) ecosystem in Egypt has been observing remarkable growth. By Q3 2021, more than 2 of every 5 dollars invested in Egypt was backing a T&L startup, observing a 258% YoY growth in funding to become the highest funded ecosystem by the third quarter of this year. Major rounds by the likes of Trella, Bosta, and now ILLA have put Egypt’s T&L ecosystem on the regional map.
By focusing exclusively on the FMCG market, ILLA was able to capture the business and trust of over 65 clients in its portfolio, with household names to the likes of Coca-Cola, P&G, Danone, Nestle, Juhayna, and Pepsico. Since 2019, ILLA has been delivering on its core promise of moving goods with efficiency on behalf of FMCG brands, spanning over 5,000,000 KM and completing over 250,000 transactions, across 27 governorates in Egypt leveraging its tech platform to power delivery operations.
Before ILLA, FMCG brands had to rely on a variety of owned and outsourced assets to manage their delivery operations, and that adds to the pain of a fragmented logistics cycle, which gave way to the value offering of ILLA to those brands; a streamlined value chain with visibility, control and growth potential for each individual brand, with ILLA acting as an asset-light logistics company, leveraging its tech platform and operational intelligence to deliver an unparalleled experience to FMCG brands. “Mahmoud and the team are tailor-made for ILLA, bringing decades of diversified experience to help drive efficiency into the $15 trillion global FMCG market. With the onset of covid, the global supply chain management industry is suitable for modernization, and ILLA is uniquely positioned as an end-to-end execution platform. In addition, ILLA’s smart logistics solutions also play a crucial role in providing a full stack of operational solutions that will disrupt the sector, and will change the behavior for all stakeholders within the FMCG market," said Khaled Zaidan of Watheeq Financial Services.
The Cairo-based T&L startup plants to channel its newly acquired funds to boost its growth in the market and diversify its offering to the FMCG value chain as Co-Founder and CEO Mahmoud ElZomor concluded: “ILLA will use the funds to fuel its expansion and growth in Egypt and disrupt the traditional route-to-market for FMCG companies and SMEs while building more around its tech platform to deliver more value to its clients and drivers alike.”
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