MaxAB, an Egyptian B2B e-commerce marketplace that connects food and grocery retailers to suppliers in Egypt and Morocco, has announced that it has raised a $40 million pre-Series B. The funding will be used to fuel its expansion across the MENAP region, finance further growth in the ecommerce arm of its business, expand its technology and product teams, and further scale the fintech arm by offering a wider range of embedded finance solutions.
This funding round saw participation from Silver Lake, through its Long Term Capital strategy; British International Investment, the development finance institution of the UK government; and DisruptAD, ADQ’s venture platform. The round also included participation from existing investors – Beco Capital, 4DX Ventures, Flourish Ventures, and Africa Platform Capital.
MaxAB’s ecommerce company has successfully served about 150,000 different traditional retailers since its launch in 2018, and has assisted in the delivery of 2.5 million orders. To digitise the flow of cash and turn MaxAB into a one-stop shop for conventional retailers, MaxAB started rolling out its fintech solutions across its merchant base in 2021. With a presence in all major Egyptian cities and Casablanca, Morocco, MaxAB has established itself as the market leader in its sector. The startup has further plans to expand its geographic reach, intending to cover all of Morocco by the end of 2023 and enter the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
MaxAB estimates that there are more than 750,000 small businesses requiring its services in Egypt and Morocco alone, while Saudi Arabia is particularly attractive due to the government’s drive to digitise the informal sector and the FMCG’s willingness to explore new business models.
Speaking on the investment and MaxAB’s plans to deepen its presence in North Africa, the CEO and co-founder of MaxAB, Belal El-Megharbel, said, ”Within just four years of operations, we have been able to re-engineer the informal food and grocery market in Egypt and Morocco. We are thrilled to have gained the recognition and financial backing of world-class investors, adding to the reception and support we receive from the retailers and suppliers we serve. Going by the quality of investors who are partnering with us, we are excited about venturing into the next stage of the MaxAB journey, which is further consolidation of the informal grocery sector, heavy focus and investments in fintech, and replicating our success in new markets to grow beyond borders”.
Amer Al Ameri, Head of Venture Capital and Technology investments at ADQ, added, ”MaxAB are building technology-driven products and services that solve challenges around better integrated, efficient, reliable grocery supply chains for the MENAP region. In digitizing the vastly traditional, multi-layered and fragmented food and grocery sector supply chain, they have broken the mould and presented a domino effect of opportunities, one of which is the launch of the fintech vertical. We are happy to be embarking on this journey with MaxAB and are looking forward to providing strategic guidance for continued growth and impact.”
