EGYPT – Egyptian grocery delivery platform GoodsMart, has raised US$3.6 million in a funding round led by Sawari Ventures.

Founded in 2014, GoodsMart allows customers to browse thousands of premium grocery and home products from a variety of shops and suppliers, place orders, and have goods delivered to their door.

On the surface, the company may look like any other grocery delivery startup but the overall user experience and operating model GoodsMart has is completely different.

According to reports by Menabytes, its grocery delivery service is contactless as the users receive their orders in a pre-installed GoodsMart box outside their homes, which the company sets up after the user signs up on the platform.

As soon as the installation of the delivery box is complete, customers can order groceries via its mobile app.

All the orders are delivered between midnight and 6 am so the users find the groceries in the box when they wake up in the morning.

The customers can also use the option of recurring orders to receive certain products on a regular basis.

“Our biggest success is the emotional bond we managed to create with our clients.; listening to them was and will always be the secret recipe.”

Amr Fawzi – Founder and CEO, GoodsMart

Amr Fawzi, the founder and CEO of GoodsMart, said, “We started in 2014 with a vision to re-invent grocery shopping.

“Our biggest success is the emotional bond we managed to create with our clients.; listening to them was and will always be the secret recipe.”

The startup works with different suppliers to fulfill customer orders. It also partners with real estate developers to install its delivery boxes across homes in different residential compounds.

Hany El Sonbaty, the Managing Partner at Sawari Ventures, said, “The demand for online grocery delivery has been exponentially increasing. GoodsMart has managed to disrupt the market by providing a seamless innovative solution for consumers that will shape the future for this sector.”

GoodsMart plans to use the latest funds to accelerate its expansion and add more people to its team.

It plans to launch in East Cairo in the next few months as it currently covers West Cairo.

The startup, which last raised funding from Algebra Ventures in 2019, has been working to enhance its premium household shopping experience over the last two years with over 100 suppliers added and a marketplace section launched, as well as additional features the ability to add multiple user accounts per household.

Grocery delivery startups have received great attention since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. However, the bulk of the funding received by grocery delivery startups have been in Europe and America.

Startups like GoodsMart, Appetito, Elmenus, Max AB and another Egyptian grocery delivery company, are ensuring that Africa is not left behind.