Highlights:
- ExpandCart, an eCommerce enablement platform company based out of Cairo, raises USD 2.5 million in a Series A funding event.
- Led by VC Sawari Ventures, the funding event witnessed investors like Agility Ventures and more.
- The funds will be used to aid merchants in building online stores.
ExpandCart, an eCommerce enablement platform based out of Cairo, Egypt, has successfully raised USD 2.5 million in Series A funding. Led by Egypt-based VC Sawari Ventures, the event also witnessed participants, such as Agility Ventures (the corporate VC section of logistics firm Agility), Graphene Ventures, and two angel investors.
Established in 2013 by Amr Shawqy and Sameh Nabil, the eCommerce enablement platform helps businesses and individuals to build online stores in dual languages (English and Arabic) by deploying this platform.
Additionally, the ExpandCart also offers an integrated point-of-sale system for retailers to simplify management of their omnichannel presence. The USP of ExpandCart’s solutions is their availability with branded mobile apps for merchants.
The company claims to be one of the leading eCommerce enablement platforms in the region in a span of seven years. By now, the company has 20,000 merchants as users (it is not clear if the number signifies active users or even the ones that used the platform at some point in time) in more than 40 nations.
The plan
ExpandCart offers a range of options, and the basic plan starts at USD 19 per month and can go as high as USD 99 per month. This indeed is a little cheaper compared to Shopify’s plans that start at USD 29 per month.
There are numerous merchants in the region that have subscribed to Shopify, but ExpandCart is available with hassle-free integration and local and regional payment gateways and logistics options. The solution also comes in dual-language templates with a choice to use Arabic, English, or both and makes it easier for merchants to set up their online stores in both languages.
The tech start-up has several competitors in the region, including names such as Salla, Ecomz, and Zid, that too have successfully raised millions of dollars in venture capital.
On the progress front, ExpandCart intends to use the funds to multiply digital commerce solutions that focus on online and offline retailers and condense the gap between merchants and suppliers in the Middle East.
The expert take
Amr Shawqy, the Co-founder and CEO of ExpandCart, mentioned, “We believe that technology can empower commerce and with that vision in mind, we have built solutions to help merchants expand their sales online and offline. This new round of funding will help us work on our ambitious roadmap of new innovative eCommerce solutions that we will be rolling out to supercharge ecommerce growth in the Middle East.”
The company has built partnerships with Google, PayPal, Facebook, Boubyan Bank, and a few more leaders in various industries to support its merchants.
The investor take
Fahad Al Shatti, the Vice President of Corporate Venture Capital at Agility, said, “Since our previous funding round in 2019 with ExpandCart, we have been working with them as a strategic partner in the region, their amazing highly-integrated product along with their impressive growth proves they are the only platform positioned to lead the Middle Eastern market. This is why we were eager to join this round with a follow-on funding.”
Ahmed Alfi, the Chairman of Sawari Ventures, said, “Over the past years, the ExpandCart team was able to build an amazing platform supporting thousands of merchants from all over the Middle East. Their new ecommerce solutions roadmap proves that they truly understand the future of eCommerce, and we are excited to be part of their journey.”
