Cairo-based social commerce platform, Brimore, has raised $25M in its Series A fundraising. The round was led by existing partners, IFC – International Finance Corporation and Endure Capital, with the participation from VCs: Algebra Ventures Flourish Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, Fawry, DisrupTech Ventures, Vision Ventures and Khwarizmi Ventures.
Speaking on the fundraising, Mohamed Abdulaziz, Brimore’s CEO and Co-Founder said, “In the past three years, we’ve focused on building a smart and reliable infrastructure that enables the masses to do their commerce businesses, wherever they are, and whatever they have.
“We’ll be using the fresh fund to scale our infrastructure, enabling many more people to continue their journey of 50x growth by 2023, and opening this gate of hope and opportunity to other people in African markets.”
Founded in 2017 by Mohamed Abdulaziz and Ahmed Sheikha, Brimore has become an employer of labour with over 700 employees in its service along the distribution chain.
Thus, with over 70,000 distributors and 300+ suppliers, Brimore is rising to a helm, asserting that it has had a 400x growth rate in the last four years.
Brimore plans on using its new fund to establish new trade routes for global expansion to become Africa’s market gateway. The company also hopes to redefine the generic go-to market experience and bring goods and services to the doorsteps of customers.
Furthermore, using its micro-distributors, Brimore enables manufacturers and retailers to sell products to customers across Egypt and also enables a parallel distribution chain.
The startup has incorporated within its supply chain, payment facilities that make it flexible for a number of SMEs (Small and medium enterprises) which offer services like the provision of packaged foods, personal care, and household goods.
Speaking on its investment in Brimore, Walid Labadi, IFC’s country manager for Egypt, said, “IFC is excited to support Brimore as a leader in social commerce in Egypt. This is our largest direct investment in social commerce so far. IFC’s co-lead investment in Brimore aims to help the platform continue to democratise access to e-commerce, increase economic opportunities for women, and support the development of the local manufacturing sector in the country.”
Tarek Fahim, Managing Partner at Endure Capital, holds absolute faith in Brimore’s mission of building the infrastructure and technology for social commerce in Egypt and Africa, to change the lives of their partners, especially women who aspire for a better future for themselves and their families. He also made commitments to be continuous partners with Brimore.
Brimore asserts that this round of investment will enable the company to grow even further, strengthening its logistics and operational infrastructure, double its staff size, and product portfolio as well as expand its reach to resellers and suppliers. Its next step includes global expansion to become Africa’s market gateway.
However, Brimore had previously secured $3.5 million in its Pre-Series A stage, a round led by Algebra Ventures, with the participation of Disruptech, Vision Ventures, and existing investors 500 Startups, and Flat6Labs.
This women-focused startup is making waves in Egypt already and plans to expand to three other countries by 2023.
(Wholly reported by Ajifa Treasure Solomon)
