Homzmart, the Egyptian platform that connects furniture makers with potential buyers, has closed a Series A financing in the amount of $15 million. The fundraising operation was led by MSA Capital and Nuwa Capital. The startup founded in 2019 by Mahmoud Ibrahim and Ibrahim Mohammed, two former Jumia alumni, will continue to grow in Egypt.
“The market opportunity in the region is enormous and our business model is perfectly set up for it. Homzmart provides a simple one-stop-shop platform to transform the experience for furniture sellers and consumers, and we are very excited about our next stage of growth,” said Mahmoud Ibrahim.
- This fundraising follows the mobilization in early 2020 of funding of $1.3 million by Homzmart. The transaction was attended by several investors including MSA Capital, which is mentioned in the new operation.
- Speaking in early 2020 on online furniture sales opportunities in Egypt, Mahmoud Ibrahim said this market is valued at over $60 billion, with 25 million people in the Middle East and North Africa area (Mena ) looking for household furniture every month.
What The Startup Does
- Founded late 2019 by Mahmoud Ibrahim and Ibrahim Mohamed, Homzmart is an ecommerce marketplace that connects furniture manufacturers and vendors with customers, selling furniture online.
- The platform showcases different designs to help customers personalize their ideas and vision for their home, and bring it to reality, a feature the founders see as an important part of the furniture purchasing decision.
- Both the founders have a solid ecommerce background. Mahmoud started his ecommerce career with Rocket Internet’s Jumia in 2012 serving Jumia Egypt as VP Operations and then went on to join Daraz, the leading ecommerce platform of South Asia as a Managing Director for Pakistan. He was Daraz’s Group COO when the company was acquired by Alibaba for an estimated $200 million. Ibrahim is also a Jumia alumnus and used to lead company’s ‘logistics development and expansion’ in Egypt.
- Mahmoud said that they started Homzmart to solve pain points of both customers and furniture manufacturers.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer