Egypt’s ShipBlu Closes Pre-Seed Round with Funds from KSA & San Fran

Egyptian e-commerce shipping and fulfillment startup, ShipBlu, has closed an undisclosed pre-Seed investment round led by Saudi Arabia-based technology-focused venture capital (VC) Nama Ventures, with participation from Y Combinator and other prominent angel investors from San Francisco and Saudi Arabia.

Founded in October 2020 by Ali Nasser, Abdelrahman Hosny, and Ahmed El Kawass, the Cairo-based company has been credited for redefining the e-commerce shipping experience. Using artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning technology, it offers absolute shipping transparency with the option of setting a three-hour delivery window and tracking of couriers’ live locations to guarantee on-time shipment deliveries.

Building on its last-mile technology, ShipBlu also provides fulfilment services, with planned fulfilment centres across Egypt. Its integration of both services has helped it generate a seamless experience for both sellers and customers, and its efforts have been recognised by Y Combinator, who will incorporate it into its 2021 Summer Batch.

“People are excited about shopping online in Egypt because it’s effortless and convenient,” says founder Ali Nasser.

“Unfortunately,” he admits, “a lot of times the delivery experience really puts people off. Some of it is due to a lack of infrastructure, some of it is due to poor resource management.”

He lays out his company’s commitment to addressing industry problems, saying “we promise to deliver a shipping experience that customers will look forward to so that merchants can stay focused on what matters, and customers can continue to enjoy online shopping.”

Meanwhile, Managing Partner of Nama Ventures, Mohamed Alzubi, expressed his enthusiasm for the landmark investment, saying “we are super proud to have ShipBlu be our first investment in Egypt.”

“We have really enjoyed getting to know the founders and seeing their passion to disrupt the e-commerce shipping experience,” he said, before describing the ShipBlu team as “unparallelled” in addressing the challenges and opportunity.