On the heels of $40 million Series A in July — one of the largest fundings in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region — Egypt-based Business to Business (B2B) eCommerce platform, MaxAB, has announced getting $15 million additional funding in closing its Series A round, and the acquisition of WaystoCap, a YC-backed Morocco-based B2B, eCommerce, and distribution platform.
The extra funding came from existing investors, RMBV, IFC, Flourish Ventures, Crystal Stream Capital, Rise Capital, Endeavour Catalyst, Beco Capital, and 4DX Ventures.
MaxAB's acquisition of WaystoCap is in line with its plans to scale across Africa. CEO and Co-founder, Belal El-Megharbel, believes that it is a step in the right direction, owing to their pre-existing relationship with WaystoCap, and the startup's experience in the region.
“We are about to take the food and grocery industry to another level in North Africa. The creation of this new super-team, combining a powerhouse of talent, technological know-how, on the ground infrastructure, boosted supply chains, and WaystoCap’s phenomenal experience of the region is very exciting. We have a long-standing and excellent working relationship with WaystoCap and share a common vision to re-engineer the traditional food and grocery market to better serve traditional retailers."
Founded by Niama El Bassunie, Mehdi Daoui, Anis Abdeddine and Aziz Jaouhari Tissafi in 2017, WaystoCap is the first Moroccan startup to be accepted in Y Combinator. The company initially operated as a platform for cross-border trading activities allowing it to establish a presence in Ivory Coast and Togo.
Following incubation in YC's 2017 Winter batch and an ensuing $3 million seed raise, the founders switched business model and began a B2B eCommerce system connecting retailers with suppliers. In running with this model, they withdrew from the two West African countries to focus on Morocco. Currently, they have a network of 8,000 retailers across the country.
This acquisition will see MaxAB position itself in Morocco and the Maghreb region, which comprises Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia.
El Bassunie, who will assume the position of Managing Director, MaxAB Morocco, says she sees the merger as a positive signal for the ecosystem in the MENA region, as it fosters efforts to build solutions that solve the region's unique challenges.
“Morocco is an exciting and fast-growing market, and with the tremendous increase in government and investor support, the tech ecosystem in Africa and the Middle East is enabling entrepreneurs to build and create novel solutions for some of the key day-to-day challenges faced in the region.
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"We are thrilled to play a pivotal role in the new all-star team being created and led by experienced, innovative entrepreneurs to establish a regional market leader in food and grocery supply. We are looking forward to continuing our close working relationship with our new team and taking the business to its next phase.”
Founded in 2018, MaxAB is a platform that delivers supplies to stores in Egypt. Store owners can use the platform to purchase goods, arrange for delivery or logistics, and communicate with a customer support team. This additional fund takes MaxAB's total announced funding to $60 million. The amount for which WaystoCap was acquired was undisclosed.
There are several positive projections for the eCommerce industry in the MENA region, and news of large fundings and acquisitions support these projections.
