Odiggo, an Egyptian auto-tech app based in Dubai, has secured a record-breaking round of funding from three of the world’s top seed-stage venture capital firms: Y Combinator, 500 Startups, and PlugAndPlay. 

The investors join previous Regional VCs Seedra Ventures, Lofty Inc Capital and also Essa Al-Saleh (Volta-Tucks CEO, the electric vehicles manufacturers) who will also be investing again for the third time.

“We are very selective when onboarding, not just talent but potential investors and partners in this company. We realised we were at a time of growth and needed the right kind of partners not just to invest but to help us achieve our highly ambitious goals. This round of investing was the toughest yet, we went through a very rigorous process when trying to find the right fit, even turning down a few firms along the way,” said founder Ahmed Nasser. 

Odiggo’s major objective now will be constant expansion, following this recent round of funding. “We raise to fuel our growth, that’s the main thing, so, mainly it’s focusing on technology and expanding our team in UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt,” said Omar.

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Odiggo will also spend a portion of its startup financing to continue developing their deep-tech dashboard platform.

Why The Investors Invested

Odiggo’s latest funding stems from its proven traction. Odiggo currently serves over 45,000 users across three regions and works directly with over 300 businesses to provide consumers with a smooth experience, as seen by constant growth of 40% month over month and a 200 percent rise in user base at the onset of the pandemic. 

“We are excited to back Odiggo through our Afropreneurs Funds in its quest to transform the automotive parts market and provide superior service to clients, starting from Mena. The leadership team of Omar and Naser, supported by the rest of the employees have been a joy to work with and we are on a countdown to the IPO!” said the Managing Partner of LoftyInc Capital Management, Idris Ayodeji Belli, adding: “At LoftyInc, we are always looking for balanced founding teams, with a bias towards execution, going after a large market, and Odiggo epitomises all of that.”

Investors also seemed to have invested because of the backgrounds of the founders. The startup is led by a group of technical experts with global experience from organizations like FIFA, Hyundai, Jumia, and Reckitt Benckiser, to mention a few. Particularly, Nasser has been instrumental in the establishment of a number of famous businesses in recent years.

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“New age players like Odiggo backed by founders who carry deep auto industry and technology experience are disrupting this large market by adopting rapid digitalisation to improve operating efficiency and deliver a better experience to car owners,” said Seedra Ventures.

“We as co-founders come from a growth background which led us to grow Odiggo exponentially for the past 18 months,” said Ahmed Omar and Ahmed Nasser.

A Look At What The Startup Does

Odiggo was founded in 2019 by Ahmed Omar and Ahmed Nasser. It sells car parts and accessories directly from various vendors. Odiggo claims to have the largest catalog of auto spare parts in the MENA region. The startup makes money by charging 7 to 22 percent commission on every order made through their website or mobile app.

“We are on our way to IPO by 2024 with #BillionBookings as our next achievable goal. We are building an ecosystem for all car owners, suppliers and mechanics. We aim to be the first $100 billion company coming out of the region,” said Ahmed Nasser.

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

Odiggo, an Egyptian-based digital marketplace for automotive spare parts, has raised $600,000 from Essa Al-Saleh, former CEO of the billion-dollar logistics company Agility Logistics and current Chairman of Volta Trucks and CEO of Switzerland-based advisory and investment firm Agitero AG, in a seed funding round.

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“We’re working on bringing in the best team in the Middle East to help us gain the highest market share in what is a scattered trillion-dollar industry. We want to enhance our unit economics, empower our product-market fit and reach millions of car owners per month. Our product isn’t yet finished or complete enough for us to reach the highest conversion rates. That’s why we will invest more in operations, support, and, of course, product,” said Ahmed Omar and Ahmed Nasser, founders of Odiggo said of the use of the latest funding.

Why The Investor Invested

Quite remarkable is the fact that Odiggo has mostly raised all its funding from angels. In 2019, the startup raised $180k at a valuation of $1.25m from Saeed Al Jaberi, a Saudi angel investor. At that time, it claimed to have processed over processed over 14,000 transactions and tickets, with sales crossing $170,000 (EGP 3 million). These are figures investors are interested in. Angel investor and former CEO Essa al-Saleh of the Switzerland-based Agility Logistics was recently named as the new chairman of electric vehicle startup Volta Trucks. Thus, investing in Odiggo complements his startup’s business model.  Essa had also backed Odiggo as an angel investor in August, 2020.

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A Look At What Odiggo Does

Odiggo was founded in 2017 by Ahmed Omar and Ahmed Nasser. It sells car parts and accessories directly from various vendors. In the first seven months of service, the startup had 2000 customers onboard. Odiggo claims to have the largest catalog of auto spare parts in the region. The startup makes money by charging 7 to 22 percent commission on every order made through their website or mobile app.

The startup also experienced 40 percent month-over-month growth prior to its last funding, and had a twelve-fold rise in its sales compared to the same time, according to the founders.

According to Nasser, the startup said it is in the process of raising a new round to accelerate its development and boost its product offering.

“We’re also pushing IoT solutions for our B2B business model, which can potentially help companies save millions of dollars on vehicle run-time and cut costs on vehicle downtime,” he said. 

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

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