About
Per a statement, the investment will allow the startup, launched in 2020, to cover all of Egypt’s governorates, grow its product, technology, and services, and explore new verticals beyond FMCG. The company operates an asset-light marketplace where it does not own a single product or vehicle. You do not want to think you’re paying more interest with an external company giving you these working capital loans. But the executives say the company expects to receive some credit lines and venture debt from local and international partners by January next year. In our interview with Cartona’s executives last year, the company had 30,000+ merchants and processed over 400,000 orders with an annualized gross merchandise value of EGP 1 billion (~$64 million). Talaat said the company now serves 60,000+ merchants and processed over 1 million transactions with an annualized gross merchandise value of EGP 2.3 billion (~$120 million). And as a result, Talaat said Cartona had to focus more on its technical integrations with big manufacturers and their warehouses, which has created more upside for the business. Cartona has more than 1,500 distributors and wholesalers on its platform and 200 FMCG companies, including big names like Unilever and Henkel. At the time, Cartona was present in three Egyptian cities; it’s now in eleven.