Egyptian Start-Up Capiter Raises $33m

Egypt’s Capiter has managed to raise a $33 million fund from multiple investors led by Quona Capital and MSA Capital, in addition to investors like Accion Venture Lab, Foundation Ventures, Shorooq Partners, and others. The start-up is planning on expanding in the MENA region.

This isn’t the first time that Quona Capital has taken a B2B e-commerce bet in Africa in the recent period. One example is Kenya’s Sokowatch, a startup that seeks to digitize Africa’s informal B2B supply chain by facilitating connections between merchants and local and multinational suppliers. The Nairobi-based company raised $14 Million in 2020, with Quona Capital being the most significant contributor. 

“Capiter’s embedded finance model, combined with its expertise and strong user engagement, can have a dramatic impact on the financial lives of SMEs, helping them optimize their income which helps communities to thrive.” Said Monica Brand Engel, Quona Capital’s co-founder.

The start-up seeks to help manufacturers reach merchants more effectively by providing a single B2B e-commerce platform. Merchants can also save drastically on monthly costs and boost profit margins when managing their business on Capiter’s platform. 

One of the platform’s most vital points is that it provides manufacturers with key market insights to help them fine-tune their product distributions. Not to mention, retailers can order a wide range of inventory, obtain delivery, and access financing from a single platform. The merchant also gets access to accurate data that makes it easier to pinpoint which products to buy in the near future.  

Over 50,000 retailers have used Capiter’s platform for their inventory management process in the past months. With more than 6,000 SKUs from 1,000+ different suppliers, the platform is only expected to grow and scale exponentially in the upcoming period.

Capiter wasn’t the only Egyptian startup that got major fundings in recent months, especially in the fintech industry. This highlights Egypt’s progress in supporting startups and encouraging national and foreign investments.

Capiter was founded by brothers and serial entrepreneurs Mahmoud Nouh and Ahmed Nouh in July 2020. It’s worth noting that Mahmoud Nouh was also the co-founder and COO of Swvl, a bus-hailing start-up that offers a convenient alternative to state-owned transportation. The company was recently acquired by Queen’s Gambit Grow Capital for $1.5 billion, making it the Middle East’s first unicorn to list on Nasdaq. “As a homegrown startup, we are proud to have built such a sophisticated solution in such a short amount of time,” said Mahmoud.