More startups in Egypt are increasingly raising funds this year compared to most African countries. Added to the list is Cairo-based ecommerce enablement platform ExpandCart which has raised $2.5 million in a Series A round.

“We believe that technology can empower commerce and with that vision in mind, we have built solutions to help merchants expand their sales online and offline. This new round of funding will help us work on our ambitious roadmap of new innovative eCommerce solutions that we will be rolling out to supercharge ecommerce growth in the Middle East,” Amr Shawqy, the co-founder and CEO of ExpandCart said in a statement. 

Here Is What You Need To Know

• This round was led by Egyptian VC Sawari Ventures with the Agility Ventures (the corporate VC arm of logistics firm Agility), and Graphene Ventures. Two angel investors also took part in the round.
• With this investment, ExpandCart will double down on digital commerce solutions that target online and offline retailers and reduce the gap between suppliers and merchants in the Middle East. 
• Last year, the startup raised $150k in funding after being selected into the Hong Kong-based Betatron accelerator.

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Why The Investors Invested

“Over the past years, the ExpandCart team was able to build an amazing platform supporting thousands of merchants from all over the Middle East,” Ahmed Alfi, the Chairman of Sawari Ventures, said. “Their new ecommerce solutions roadmap proves that they truly understand the future of eCommerce, and we are excited to be part of their journey.”

“Since our previous funding round in 2019 with ExpandCart, we have been working with them as a strategic partner in the region, their amazing highly-integrated product along with their impressive growth proves they are the only platform positioned to lead the Middle Eastern market. This is why we were eager to join this round with a follow-on funding,” Fahad Al Shatti, the Vice President of Corporate Venture Capital at Agility, said.

A Look At What The Startup Does

• Founded in 2013 by Amr Shawqy and Sameh Nabil, ExpandCart enables individuals and businesses to build online stores in Arabic and/or English using its platform. The startup also offers an integrated point-of-sale system for retailers to make it easy for them to manage their omnichannel presence. ExpandCart’s solutions come with branded mobile apps for merchants.
• It claims to be the leading ecommerce (enablement) platform in the region with over 20,000 merchants as its users (it is not clear if these merchants are active or have used ExpandCart at a certain point) in over 40 countries.
• The startup also has multiple regional competitors including startups like Salla, Zid, and Ecomz that have previously raised millions of dollars in venture capital.

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