Silicon Valley VC backs Egypt-based Pioneer WaffarX
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Egypt-based marketplace and pioneering cashback shopping service WaffarX has successfully closed a multi-million dollar financing round led by the Silicon Valley venture capital firm Lobby Capital, making their debut investment in the MENA region.
Founded in 2018 by Ezz Fayek, Mahmoud Montasser and Ahmed Kamal, WaffarX uses cutting-edge technology to distribute cashback rewards, helping shoppers save on every dollar they spend. WaffarX’s secure channel helps brands shift adg spending directly to consumers via cashback rewards. This creates deeper loyalty for brands, whilst customers monetize their own data, instead of third parties.
Entering the last month of the year, Egypt maintains its rank as the geography closing the most VC deals in MENA accounting for almost 40% of all transactions in 2021 YTD as most recently recorded in our November 2021 Venture Investment Dashboard. The 24 deals closed by Egypt-based startups in November resulted in a 167% YoY compared to November of last year. With deal count observing a steady growth in the last quarter of the year up until November 2021, MENA is only 50 deals away from equalizing last year’s record raising more than double the capital of full year 2020. In the past month, Egypt observed highly anticipated funding rounds including $26M raised by grocery commerce platform Breadfast, $11M in Pre-SEED for quick commerce startup Rabbit, and $1M in Pre-SEED for pioneering HealthTech startup Bypa-ss.
While consumers want seamless, personalized engagement rather than disruptive advertisements, brands on the other hand want cost-effective and sticky digital outreach solutions focusing on customer needs and resonating with them. With native FinTech integrations, WaffarX designed a solution that creates direct results and transforms every transaction into a saving opportunity. In light of this market validating investment, Ezz Fayek, Co-Founder/CEO of WaffarX commented “We’re delighted to have completed this latest funding round. The support of an esteemed Silicon Valley firm such as Lobby Capital, and existing investors - A15, are a huge endorsement of WaffarX’s business model and strategy. We have always been pioneers in our industry and our solutions are a win-win for consumers and brands. This capital raise will help us maintain our market leadership, break new ground in our platform, increase our user base and expand our geographic presence.”
The endorsement by San Francisco-based Lobby Capital is significant for WaffarX. Lobby Capital is experienced in investing in successful cashback platforms, having been an early investor in the US firm Ebates, which was successfully sold to Japanese company, Rakuten, in 2014 – in what was Japan’s largest E-commerce deal at the time. David Hornik, General Partner of Lobby Capital highlighted “At Lobby Capital, we know the power of the cashback shopping model to drive growth for merchants, savings for consumers, and positive returns for investors. We also know the benefit of working with great founders like Ezz Fayek. We are very excited that the right business model and right people can come together for Lobby’s first investment in the region.”
WaffarX has grown exponentially, and now has over 260 merchant partners and over 450,000 members. The company’s cutting-edge technology provides what modern consumers and merchants/brands want, and benefit both groups. The Egypt-based startup plans to utilize its newly acquired funds o expand its platform, drive user acquisition and enter new markets in the MENA region. In light of this pivotal moment Karim Beshara, General Partner at initial investor A15 concluded “As early investors in WaffarX we are excited to see their continued success. Ezz and the team have been thought leaders in the cash backspace in MENA and we are excited to see how they continue to innovate and bring new, exciting products to market.”
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