Cairo’s ExpandCart Raises $2.5 Million Towards its Mission of Supercharging Ecommerce Growth in MENA

Cairo-based startup, ExpandCart, has announced that it has raised $2.5 million in a Series A round. The funding was led by Egyptian VC firm, Sawari Ventures, as well as Agility Ventures, Graphene Ventures and two angel investors. 

ExpandCart is an online ecommerce platform that allows merchants to build online stores in both English and Arabric. Founded in 2013 by Amr Shawqy and Sameh Nabil, they have become one of the leading ecommerce enablement platforms in the region with over 20,000 merchants - current and former - in 40-plus countries.

ExpandCart’s payment structure has plans which begin at $19 a month and can increase up to $99 a month. Their plans are slightly cheaper than Shopify, a global competitor, making them more attractive to merchants in the region. Their integration with local and regional payment platforms, as well as dual-language accessibility, also gives ExpandCart a competitive edge across MENA.

“Over the past years, the ExpandCart team was able to build an amazing platform supporting thousands of merchants from all over the Middle East,” said Ahmed Alfi, the Chairman of Sawari Ventures, on the investment. “Their new ecommerce solutions roadmap proves that they truly understand the future of eCommerce, and we are excited to be part of their journey.”

ExpandCart is planning to use their newly raised funds to bridge the gap between suppliers and merchants as well as develop digital commerce solutions that target both online and offline retailers, according to their statement. Commenting on the investment, Amr Shawqy, who serves as the startup’s CEO, believes that the funding can help take ExpandCart to the next level, while being a major player in Egypt in the continuing wave of digitalisation.

“We believe that technology can empower commerce and with that vision in mind, we have built solutions to help merchants expand their sales online and offline. This new round of funding will help us work on our ambitious roadmap of new innovative ecommerce solutions that we will be rolling out to supercharge ecommerce growth in the Middle East.”