Cairo – Mubasher: Egypt-based B2B commerce marketplace Cartona has raised $4.5 million in pre-series A round led by Dubai-based venture capital firm Global Ventures.
Other investors who participated in the funding round include Kepple Africa Ventures and T5 Ventures, in addition to a group of angel investors, according to a statement on Tuesday.
The funding will be invested in enhancing Cartona's technology capabilities in order to further improve the user experience and introduce embedded finance within the product and order cycle.
The CEO and Co-founder of Cartona, Mahmoud Talaat, said: “Cartona is committed to building a strong network of digitally connected retailers that have better control over their businesses through running a seamless daily operation.”
"Small and medium retailers deserve the opportunity to operate their businesses efficiently while delivering growth simultaneously. To do so, they need access to credit, inventory, and payment services. We are dedicated to empowering the B2B ecosystem through technology and supply chain innovation," Talaat added.
The CTO and Co-founder of Cartona, Mahmoud Abdel-Fattah, said: “It is time to capitalise on technology beyond warehouses and trucks. Data and technology will transform traditional retail to a digitally-native one, which in return will drastically improve the supply chain efficiency.”
Since its launch in August 2020, the B2B platform has acquired more than 30,000 users in Cairo and Alexandria and has processed above 400,000 delivered orders with an annualised gross merchandise value of EGP 1 billion.
Cartona works with 100 FMCG companies as well as 1,000 distributors and wholesalers, offering consumers more than 10,000 products.
The General Partner at Global Ventures, Basil Moftah, said: “The trade market is one of the most sophisticated, yet characterised by multiple critical inefficiencies across the value chain. Cartona’s asset-light approach tackles those inefficiencies by optimising the trade process in unique ways, and does so with minimal capital spent."
