Egyptian AI Startup DXwand Raises $1M for Regional Expansion

Egyptian AI startup, DXwand, will look to accelerate growth across MENAP, after announcing the raise of $1 million Pre-Series A led by Chinese firm, Huashan Capital, and previous investor, the US-based SOSV.

Founded by Ahmed Mahmoud in 2018, DXwand develops a smart software that automates text and voice conversations between businesses and customers in call centres. The AI is able to do so through Facebook messenger, WhatsApp, SMS or a website, and is able to understand Arabic and English slang, as well as extract insights that are dilapidated on dashboards instantly. Said dashboard offers a host of analytical tools that can, in theory, translate conversations into leads and sales, while also improving customer acquisition and retention.

“Conversational interfaces are the future of user engagement and we think that the DXwand team is very well positioned thanks to their proprietary Arabic dialects NLP and personalised recommendations engines that set them apart from the rest of the competitors,” said Oscar Ramos, General Partner at SOSV. “DXwand was one of the first investments for SOSV in MENA; the positive experience led to more than a dozen investments in the region.”

The significance of the investment coming via US and Chinese firms shouldn’t be underestimated and speaks of a regional IT solutions and enterprise software sector that is in the ascendancy. Q1’22 has witnessed a 200% growth compared to Q1’21. Thigh highlight deal of 2021 came in the form of Saudi digital data management startup Master Works’ impressive $110 million Series A mega-round and though nothing has come close to that figure in 2022, there have been several investments that show encouraging signs. Saudi AI startup, Mozn, raised $10 million in Series A funding Egyptian real-time intelligence platform, Intella, raised a $1 million seed round, while another Egyptian startup, app-maker Splendapp, raised an undisclosed six-figure pre-seed round to fuel regional expansion.

With its new injection of capital, DXwand will explore expansion plans across the region, as well as expand its market share and elevate its AI research with a view to providing more solutions.