Life After Glovo: Local Alternatives to the ‘Order Anything’ App
The market is huge and there is room for other alternatives.
Glovo’s journey in Egypt was a bit turbulent. First there were some stakes on sale, then concerns were raised by the national competition authority, and it culminated with the Spanish delivery startup to bid the Egyptian market farewell on January 24.
An edge Glovo enjoys and most of its competitors doesn’t is that you can literally order “anything” that is legal and not alcoholic at a fixed rate of EGP 15. I once had my Glovo pick up some business cards that I was printing around the neighborhood.
So, this is a list to remind you (and myself) that there are local alternatives:
Halan
It started as a rickshaw and motorcycle ride-hailing app and expanded to delivery soon after its launch. Founded in November 2017, Halan now operates in Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. It has delivery partnerships with fast food chains like McDonald’s, KFC and Pizza Hut in Egypt.
Something that Glovo doesn’t have is that Halan can pick up a package from the user and have it delivered anywhere they want within the apps geo-territory.
Mrsool
All the way from Saudi Arabia, Mrsool is a very similar app to Glovo where you can also order “anything.” It only just started operations in Egypt after scoring a multimillion dollar Series A round from STV and Raed Ventures.
Elves
Positioning itself slightly differently than the two startups mentioned above, Elves still falls under the same category. Founded in 2017, Elves is an Egyptian American startup that pairs users up with a personalised concierge who takes care of your errands and anything you want to be taken care of basically.
