EGYPT – ShipBlu, a Cairo-based ecommerce fulfillment startup backed by Y-Combinator, has raised US$2.4 million in venture funding to help it expand its service offering and coverage across Egypt.
Nama Ventures, a MENA-focused venture capital firm, led ShipBlu’s seed round, which also included 1984 Ventures, Orange Ventures, Orange Telecom’s venture capital arm, Starling Ventures, and other VC firms and angel investors.
“Roughly 56% of the time when someone in Egypt places an order online, they don’t even have a delivery date,” said co-founder and CEO, Ali Nasser.
“After you place your order and you get an email confirmation, it’s complete silence until, on a random day, you’re going to get a call from the agent who’s on their way to you asking if you are available to pick up the package. We’re changing that.”
Since its last pre-seed funding, the ShipBlu has fully launched its product. It also signed on more than 40 merchants in its first month, and has since doubled its clientele while tripling revenues, according to Nasser, who did not provide specific figures.
“Roughly 56% of the time when someone in Egypt places an order online, they don’t even have a delivery date. We’re changing that.”
Investment into ShipBlu’s pre-seed funding round in July this year is the first in an Egyptian startup by the venture capital firm, which has been investing in pre-seed / seed stage startups in the MENA region, particularly in Saudi Arabia.
“We are super proud to have ShipBlu be our first investment in Egypt,” said Mohammed Alzubi, Managing Partner of Nama Ventures, during ShipBlu’s pre-seed round.
“We have really enjoyed getting to know the founders and seeing their passion to disrupt the e-commerce shipping experience. The team is unparalleled to address this opportunity. We are witnessing first-hand what a well-rounded team with complementary skillsets can do in a very short time.
“Riding with Ali, Ahmed and Abdelrahman on the ShipBlu spaceship has already been exciting, but we can’t wait to see what the future holds together.”
ShipBlu was founded in October 2020 by Ali Nasser, Abdelrahman Hosny, and Ahmed El Kawass with the goal of redefining the shipping experience in Egypt for thousands of merchants and millions of daily online shoppers.
ShipBlu is designed to provide a one-of-a-kind e-commerce shipping experience. ShipBlu uses its fleets to deliver packages on time, every time, guaranteed, thanks to its own artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies.
Customers may choose their chosen three-hour delivery window and track couriers in real time as they approach their destinations using ShipBlu, ensuring complete shipping transparency.
ShipBlu also offers e-commerce fulfillment services, based on its last-mile technology, with fulfillment centers planned around Egypt.
Integrating fulfillment services with its last-mile operations gives merchants and customers a unique and seamless experience.
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