Egyptian Funeral Service Provider Sokna Raises $1M Seed Round

Set on a mission to destigmatise the discussion around death, SOKNA offers end-to-end funeral services driven by tech-fueled efficiency. The Egypt-based company is playing an active role in shifting the culture around funerary arrangements and has secured a USD one million seed round from a venerable mix of investors including Silicon Valley-based Mentors Fund, SBX Capital, ACE & Company, and Kabnoury Ventures, Onsi Sawiris, Khaled AlMutabagani, Ahmed Sadek El Sewedy, Farouk Kadous and other prominent angel investors.

The new funds will be used to acquire talents, grow the team and extend its services and product offerings. This will be done by augmenting their tech to increase scalability and widen the geographic scope n Egypt says Founder and CEO Ahmed Gaballah: “With this new funding and the incredible group of partners that joined us, we are ready to scale across the country and be able to support more families during the difficult times of grieving loved ones. As a mission driven team, we always have our ‘why’ at the forefront: to allow people to focus on the farewell instead of the paperwork, and to honor departing souls and their families by alleviating the logistical pain of those moments.”

Since its launch in 2020, SOKNA has witnessed rapid growth, striking operational partnerships with 20 hospitals and corporates in Greater Cairo alone, onboarded more than 70 partner vendors and performed more than 2500 funerals. The size of the team has been growing in tandem with SOKNA currently employing more than 50 full-time employees providing a wide range of professional funerary services from A to Z. These services include everything from burial permits and body preparation to transportation and even personalized sadaqa giveaways.  

Through their professional funerary services, SOKNA is breaking the taboo of making funeral arrangements for their loved ones. In support of this, the company launched a Pre-Planning Program where individuals can agree on logistical decisions early-on for peace of mind. SOKNA also expanded its service to include corporate agreements for employers looking to support their employees during times of loss whether through sponsoring, subsidizing or including funeral expenses as part of their employment benefits.