Egyptian B2B E-Commerce Platform Cartona Raises $12 Million Series A

Cartona, an Egyptian B2B e-commerce platform, raised $12 million in a Series A round led by Silicon Badia, a Jordan and U.S-based early-stage venture capital firm. The round welcomed participation from SANAD Fund MSME, an impact investment fund for the Middle East and North Africa, Arab Bank Accelerator, Sunny Side Ventures, and existing investors Global Ventures and Kepple Ventures.

Founded in 2019 by Mahmoud Abdelfattah, Mahmoud Talaat, and Rafik Zaher, Cartona is digitizing the marketplace in Egypt by connecting small retailers, FMCG producers, wholesalers and distributors through its platform.

E-commerce is one of the most funded sectors in the MENAPT region. In H1’2022, it saw almost 90% growth in funding and nearly reached $500 million in VC funding, according Magnitt’s Venture Markets Report. Startups receiving the lion’s share of investments include Saudi’s Retailo which raised $36 million in February 2022, and Pakistan’s Jugnu which raised $22.5 million in March 2022.

Cartona has an asset-light business model, where it doesn’t own a single product, warehouse or vehicle, enabling the startup to digitize Egypt’s traditional offline marketplace. It does this by eliminating inefficiencies across the supply chain and embracing digital financial solutions to a network of hundreds of thousands of shops.

“Egypt has hundreds of thousands of mom-and-pop stores that are core to our business model,” says Mahmoud Talaat, CEO and co-founder of Cartona. “We will continue empowering them via efficient and seamless solutions in their trade and financial cycle.”

Egypt is a promising market opportunity for Cartona. According to the startup, the retail market size is estimated at $120 billion, while the F&B market is worth $70 billion. In addition, there are over 400k shops and thousands of local and international brands across the country, with an annual growth rate of 8%.

Funds raised will be used to fuel Cartona’s expansion across Egypt, as well as scale and explore new verticals beyond FMCG.