EGYPT – Egyptian online grocery retail startup Tawfeer Market has raised US$500K in a seed round. Alexandria Business Angels Networks contributed to the funding round.

Founded by Ahmad Fasseeh, Mahmoud Salah, Mohamed Mansour, Tawfeer operates in Egypt’s second populated city, Alexandria, and became an established brand in the Alexandrian community.

The startup was downloaded on more than 100,000 devices, although it started delivering groceries to customers in 2020. Therefore, online grocery orders are increasing month-over-month rapidly.

Online grocery retail is expected to grow exponentially in Egypt, allowing many players to fulfill different needs.

According to Ahmad Fasseeh, co-founder and CEO of Tawfeer, the grocery retail market is enormous, exceeding US$50 billion in value.

Egypt’s online grocery retail market share is still way behind the global average and even behind other e-commerce sectors in Egypt.

Tawfeer Market will employ the investment to crystalize its market proposition and support its various product offerings.

Moreover, Fasseeh added that retail grocery consumers seek three main criteria: variety, convenience, and price.

Tawfeer Market tries to offer the right formula that fulfills consumer needs in most of their orders, offering the most commonly ordered 4000 SKUs, including fresh and frozen food at the lowest price within 60 minutes. Here came the name of Tawfeer, meaning savings in Arabic.

Co-founder and COO of Tawfeer Market Mohamed Mansour emphasized that Tawfeer Market relies on its fulfillment centers and delivery fleet.

At the same time, AUC Angels, UI Investment, and individual Angel Investors have invested in 3attar, an Egyptian health-focused tech/e-commerce platform.

The funds raised will be utilized to grow the company’s user base and improve its technology stack.

“We aim to become the dominant one-stop-shop for the whole health community in Egypt and expand into Mena regions; including chronic diseases and obesity by providing a holistic healthy lifestyle app,” Mohamed Ali, founder & CEO of 3attar said.

3attar is a B2C online platform that gives value to its clients by allowing them to order healthy meals and products online. 3attar also runs delivery and diet-consulting services. It also offers live-coaching programs and additional subscription and e-payment models.

“Since the huge growth in the global “health” community is reaching the Mena region rapidly, 3attar made a smart move to be the first & only platform to serve not only the health community in Egypt and Mena but also those who want to join this movement,” Tarek Roushdy, investor and board advisory member of 3attar said.

“I am glad to be part of this journey helping them to bring such value to that big market.”

During the COVID-19 crisis, the company expanded its product range from a few hundred to over 3,000, making it Egypt’s largest healthy-shopping destination. Its one-of-a-kind name and logo combo grew into its own private label, which now accounts for 20% of the company’s overall income.

“The specialized e-commerce space has witnessed an increased inflow of angel investments and venture capital this past year. 3attar not only satisfies this but also strives for impact in addressing the growing trends towards healthier living,” Mariam Kamel of AUC Angels said.

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