Egyptian start-up Yalla Fel Sekka raises $7m in a round led by ADQ's DisruptAD

Egyptian technology and logistics start-up Yalla Fel Sekka (YFS) raised $7 million in its latest funding round led by DisruptAD, the venture capital platform of Abu Dhabi's holding company ADQ.

The funds will allow the company to expand its operations to new markets and build its technology further, it said.

Launched in March 2020, YFS provides instant delivery service for businesses for urban communities in Egypt, the most populous country in the Arab world.

“We are now delivering over 10,000 orders per day while being gross margin positive only 18 months after launch in a vibrant but competitive market,” YFS co-founder and chief executive Yasmine Abdel Karim said in a statement.

The company’s gross merchandise volume is growing at a monthly rate of 20 per cent and its customer retention is more than 90 per cent, Ms Karim said.

YFS will be using the new funding to expand its presence in cities across Egypt and the Middle East and North Africa region while “continuing to build out its network of hubs and optimise productivity”, the company said.

It will also focus on boosting machine learning and in developing its operational strategies.

“Supporting the YFS team and their execution capabilities represents our long-term commitment to boost impactful future-focused solutions,” said Amer Al Ameri, head of venture capital and technology investments at ADQ.

“We are actively deploying capital into innovative businesses to sustain value creation with long-term economic benefits. By bolstering YFS’s development plans, we will enable [them] to expand their leadership position in Egypt and beyond.”

With its digital platform and a fleet of 1,000 drivers of motorcycles and vans, YFS offers delivery of various goods such as groceries, food and pharmaceutical products, mostly serving small businesses and retailers in Egypt.

Since its inception, the company has completed two million deliveries in Egypt and has expanded its operations in five cities including Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Mansoura and Tanta.

“YFS’s accelerating growth in its fleet size, a pool of drivers, micro-warehouses and dark stores is creating a powerful network effect, enabling us to dominate instant delivery in Egypt,” said Khashayar Mahdavi, co-founder and chief strategy officer of YFS.