MOROCCO – WafR, a Moroccan startup with an application that allows retail brands to broadcast smart promotions to grocers to increase their market share on the traditional channel, has raised US$455,000 to provide the best possible support to its clients.
This new investment will allow the retailtech company to expand its network of partner grocers and grow its teams.
The funding was raised from Launch Africa Ventures, a prestigious pan-African venture capital fund based in South Africa, First Circle Capital, WeLoveBuzz and other business angels. Following this funding round, WafR is now valued at US$9 million.
“We are very pleased with the group of investors we were able to secure in this new funding round and are proud of the strong growth experienced by WafR over the past 12 months,” stated Ismail Bargach, co-founder of WafR.
Currently, WafR has 20,000 grocery partners and aims to reach a total of 50,000, helping its FMCG customers to deliver smart promotions that will enable them to increase their market share.
The recent fundraising follows the company clinching US$278,000 from UM6P Ventures, Plug and Play Ventures, and several other Moroccan and foreign international angels in April.
Meanwhile in Egypt, e-grocery marketplace ON Market has raised US$215,000 in pre-seed funding to further expand its operations in Cairo, Alexandria, Tanta, Mansoura, and multiple other cities across the country.
Founded in June 2020 in Tanta by Moatasem Marzouk, Seif Yasser, Ahmed Najjar, and Moataz Marzouk, ON Market empowers grocery retailers with tech solutions to build and sustain online commerce.
The startup, which graduated from the AUC Venture Lab’s acceleration programme in 2021, also connects customers through their app with nearby grocery retailers, enabling them to order from multiple retailers in a single order.
The pre-seed funding comes from a host of angel investors will be used to help ON Market expand into more cities over the course of 2022.
In February 2022, it expanded the business to Nasr City and Masr El Gedida, with plans to grow to Mansoura in Q3 2022 and Alexandria in Q2 2023, earning US$6 million in GMV.
By the end of 2021, the company had grown 10x in only one city, delivered 20,000 orders with a GMV of EGP 4 million (US$218,000), onboarded 70 shops, and achieved a 65 percent retention rate.
E-commerce in Africa to bring in US$46bn by 2025
The overall African e-commerce market is set to reach an annual revenue of US$46.1 billion by 2025. This is according to the latest research by StockApps.com, a leading stock trading and news application.
Vyom Chaudhary, an editor at StockApps.com, says that with smartphones and internet technologies becoming increasingly accessible in Africa, the continent has become a lucrative market for the e-commerce industry.
“Africa is shaping up to be the next hotbed for internet-based businesses. As smartphones and the internet become more prevalent in African countries, the population has started to shift towards online shopping,” he says.
In the last couple of years, the pandemic has also helped the e-commerce industry, like everywhere else on the globe, adds Chaudhary.
Thus, one can also expect the recent surge in growth to slow down in the coming years. In 2021, the African e-commerce industry brought in US$28 billion in revenue. Compared to US$21.4 billion in 2020, the 2021 figure represented a 31% annual increase.
In 2022, the African e-commerce industry is predicted to produce US$33.3 billion in revenue, following an increase of 19%. Next year, the industry will grow by 14.7% to US$38.2 billion. In 2024, the annual growth rate will further drop to 11%, with US$42.3 billion in revenue. In 2025, the annual revenue will reach US$46.1 billion on the back of a 9% annual increase.
Liked this article? Subscribe to Food Business Africa News, our regular email newsletters with the latest news insights from Africa and the World’s food and agro industry. SUBSCRIBE HERE
