Egypt-based B2B e-commerce platform Cartona has gotten $12 million in a Series A funding round led by Silicon Baida, with the participation of investors such as SANAD Fund for MSME, Arab Bank Accelerator, and Sunny Side Ventures.
Cartona, founded in 2019 focuses on digitizing the traditional trade market in Egypt, including the mom-and-pop stores, wholesalers, FMCG producers, and distributors. The startup aims at creating a cashless society vision, investing in embedded finance, payments, and operational integration with all stakeholders, which ensures that the retailers and suppliers are provided with an integrated solution boosting financial inclusion and enabling them to operate their business more efficiently and reach end-consumers with their needed products at affordable prices.
Their model is projected as an asset-light, not fully owning a single product, warehouse, or vehicle. It allows the startup to execute its goal of digitizing the Egyptian majorly offline trade supply chain while providing seamless financial services solutions to hundreds of thousands of its customers.
The company has stated that the funds acquired from this Series A funding round will be used to expand its operations across Egypt, cover all governorates, get more resources, and explore new spaces aside from FMCG.
The CEO and co-founder of Cartona, Mahmoud Talaat, said while commenting on the funding:
“We are delighted to complete our Series A fundraise. The market context for Cartona is highly attractive, and we are just getting started. Egypt has a lot of mom-and-pop stores that are core to our business model. We will continue empowering them via efficient and seamless solutions in their trade and financial cycle with FMCG companies and wholesalers, aligning with our mission to help people manage and control their businesses”.
The Competition for Cartona is very slim, making their market infiltration easier. The overall retail market size is $120 billion, and only Food and Beverages contribute $70 billion. In Egypt, there are over 400k shops and thousands of both international and local brands, with the sector growing by 8 percent per annum.
Also, in a statement, the Founding managing partner at Silicon Baida, Namek T.Zu’bi, said:
“We are thrilled to partner with the Cartona team to help them continue to disrupt the $120 billion Egyptian retail market through its B2B technology platform embedded financial services offerings. The market is hungry for these types of solutions, and we believe Cartona’s asset-light approach will enable them to serve as many marketplace participants as possible in a highly efficient manner”.
Finally, the SANAD Board Chairperson, Dr Daniela Beckmann, concluded:
“We are incredibly proud of this transaction as it is the first investment of SANAD ESF II in Egypt, continuing the success of ESF I investments made in the country. By providing both financing and software tailored to the market. Cartona’s digital platform supports more innovative MSME retailers across Egypt, which will greatly contribute to SANAD’s mission of pursuing growth and employment creation across the region”.
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E-commerce market in Egypt
E-commerce business is a great investment for any business owner as statistics show that worldwide retail sales have grown to $4.8 trillion as of 2021 and serve over 2.14 billion people, So if you are thinking of starting an e-commerce business, now is the right time to dive into this sector due to its rapid growth and the rapid digitization of the economy. Here are some of the benefits/advantages of E-commerce:
Low financial cost
Physical retail stores are very expensive to set up as owners have to pay up to thousands of dollars to get land and build up a structure, place signs in the store, design it, and buy equipment needed for the upkeep and growth of the store which may be an uphill task for several people who are short when it comes to capital. And let’s not forget, every store needs employees that you will be paying monthly, delivery personnel, and security personnel depending on the products you sell.
However, E-commerce stores don’t require most of these procedures as done online. You may alone need a website and a website designer, services of delivery companies will also be needed, but they won’t charge much, and you have the opportunity to operate your store from the comfort of your home; after calculating all your requirements, setting up an e-commerce store may not cost you up to $4000.
Read: Sylndr Secures $12.6M Pre-seed to Disrupt Egypt’s Automotive Used-Car Market
24/7 Potential income:
Almost all physical stores operate from 9 am to 9 pm but since an e-commerce store is operated online, your store could be open all day from the comfort of your home, giving you a competitive edge over others. Being available always could make you get clients whose country time zone differs from yours and make a sale making you more income.
You may wonder, will I need to be awake all day while running an e-commerce store? The answer is No as you can get your beauty sleep while your automated ordering systems complete orders by sending those customers confirmation emails which will put their minds at rest and when you wake up, you can deliver those goods to the people who purchased them.
Read: Egypt’s Mylerz Raises $9.6M For Africa-Wide Growth
Grow worldwide faster
The internet has made the world a global village, meaning that you may be here in Nigeria, and some from the United States may see your products online and purchase them. Companies like Alibaba and Shopify offer services to customers anywhere in the world, giving them a competitive edge and making them an international brand, hence building their reputation.
Selling worldwide can help build your reputation faster and expand your marketplace exponentially, and it won’t be long before you start making immense profits before your local competitors.
E-commerce is becoming the next big thing in the trading space and has started to take over the internet as we have a lot of e-commerce stores. But, in some countries with less exposure such as Egypt, companies like Cartona are already following this trend and introducing e-commerce to the populace. You also can own an online store and be a successful trader making huge profits ahead of your competitors.
