Taager, the Egyptian social ecommerce platform empowering online merchants with end-to-end logistics, has secured $6.4M in a Seed round, led by 4DX Ventures, a pan-Africa focused venture capital firm. The round included participation from Raed Ventures,Beco Capital, Breyer Capital, and a number of key private investors including Magnus Olsson. This is Breyer Capital’s first investment in the MENA region and the round brings Taager’s total investment to date to more than $7M since launching in December 2019.
Taager is a social e–commerce marketplace that provides online sellers and traders with a complete suite of backend and integrated services, from operational and logistical infrastructure such as storage and shipping to an online marketplace to host their products, connecting sellers with wholesalers. The company uses technology, AI and data science to enable first time sellers to start and scale their online business seamlessly with relatively low risk. It offers a transparent pricing structure and an enhanced product selection process, freeing online sellers to focus on running their business while Taager handles the end to end operations. The company’s Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) has grown at a rate of around 40% month-on-month since it launched.
The new capital raised will be deployed to expand Taager’s rapidly growing operations and presence across Egypt and worldwide. The company also plans to scale and boost its technology and expand its world-class talent pool. The company is currently actively hiring across all levels throughout the company.
Commenting on Taager’s growth ambitions,Mohamed Elhorishy, Co-Founder and CEO at Taager, said: “Small and medium sized businesses are the engine of Egypt’s economy and we want to empower them with the best tools to drive their growth. In just over a year, we have built a huge body of data that does just that and we want to enable many more social entrepreneurs and online merchants to grow their businesses throughout Egypt and the MENA region.
“The pandemic has accelerated the growth of ecommerce rapidly and in a relatively short time span and has driven our platform to a market leading position. This was no easy feat in one of the toughest markets to operate in. We are excited to have some of the leading investors in the world back our vision as we look to scale and grow our platform across the region. We have world class talent in our team and we are looking forward to taking the business to new heights in the coming months.”
Peter Orth, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at 4DX Ventures, added: “The Taager team have achieved very impressive results incredibly quickly, and also built one of the most impressive teams in the ecosystem. Their focus on quality and execution, and a very unique approach to empowering ecommerce entrepreneurs is a dominant combination. We’re thrilled to partner with the team in the next phase of the company’s growth.“
Jim Breyer, Founder & CEO of Breyer Capital added: “Taager’s traction in the emerging social e-commerce space has been remarkable and we are excited to help the company maintain this impressive momentum as it scales the business beyond Egypt. The MENA region is one of the most exciting right now and we believe there’s a great opportunity for Taager to replicate its unique data-driven approach for further growth across the region.”
The global social market is rapidly growing, and with over 1.25 million online social sellers in Egypt alone, the Egyptian social e-commerce market is forecast to be worth more than $14.8 BN by 2024. Taager is well positioned to serve this growing market and plan to strengthen their capabilities to offer their solutions to millions more users
