Iraqi E-Commerce Pioneer Miswag Raises $1.6 Million Pre-Series A Round
The online food marketplace and delivery service's latest success in fundraising is a natural continuation of the tech startup’s achievements and profits since being founded in 2014.
Iraq-based B2C online marketplace, Miswag, has successfully raised $1.6 million in a Pre-Series A funding round, bringing its total investment raised to nearly $3 million since 2019.
Founded in 2014 by entrepreneur Ammar Ameen, Miswag was the first e-commerce business in Iraq and has been leading the country’s market for seven years. The platform hosts international and local food brand retailers looking to access the Iraqi market, offering 24-hour delivery for orders in Baghdad. With a growing demand for high-quality products, Miswag has differentiated itself by focusing on fast delivery and superior packaging in a country that lacks high shipping standards and a strong logistics infrastructure.
The tech startup claims to hold an undisclosed eight-digit valuation, and is looking to expand its operations as local and international investment pours into Iraq’s technology sector. Since its inception, the company has built its own technology and deployed AI and automation tools to overcome market-specific challenges. In 2021, the company saw a double year-on-year revenue increase with a user base that has tripled since early 2020. Miswag will use the funding from this round to expand the company’s commercial and technological teams and accelerate the company’s revenue growth fivefold by mid-2022.
The B2C online shopping market (non-food, non-services) in Iraq is estimated to consist of around 250K daily transactions with a total monthly value of $150 million, according to Marwan Ahmed, Miswag's Vice President of Commercial Development and People. Miswag’s mission is to tap into this potential, becoming the most innovative and efficient tech company in Iraq. For both Marwan Ahmed and Ammar Ameen, however, Miswag is still very much at the beginning of its road to opportunity.
“We have barely scratched the surface of Iraq’s untapped market that usually makes their shopping decisions on an ad-hoc basis and is heavily influenced by social media-based businesses,” Ahmed said, with Ameen echoing the sentiment. Founder Ameen echoed this, stating that
"This round is an important boost to the business that reflects our investors' trust in our results and their faith in the team. But this is only the beginning. Our goals for Miswag are much bigger, and they are more attainable than ever given the strength of our team.”
