Top 7 MENA fundings of Q3 2019

As the third quarter has drawn to a close, we reflect back on the top funding rounds that took place over the summer, from July to September 2019.

Interestingly, four startups have tied at the first and second positions of the highest funding rounds. Let's have a look

Cairo-based MaxAB raised $6.2 million in September, taking top slot as the largest seed round ever raised in the MENA region.

The round was co-led by Beco Capital, 4DX Ventures and Endure Capital with the participation of 500 Startups, Outlierz Ventures as well as other local investors.

Founded in 2018 by Belal El-Megharbel and Mohamed Ben Halim, MaxAB is B2B grocery e-commerce platform catering to retailers that form 90% of the grocery market. With their technology, retailers in remote and under-served areas will have access to a wide variety of products, the convenience of ordering stock online in addition to second-day deliveries not to mention the added benefit of access to credit facilities.

MaxAB claims to have 50% month-on-month growth.

A Dubai-based dry cleaning and laundry service, Washmen raised $6.2 million in its Series B round announced earlier in July.

AddVenture, a global VC based in Russia and returning investor in Washmen, led the round, which was also joined by Germany-based leading consumer goods company Henkel, Lebanon’s Cedar Mundi Ventures and B&Y Partners and UAE’s Clara Ventures.

Founded in 2015 by Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui, Washmen started out as an asset-light model which connected customers with existing laundromats. Over the course of 4 years, it has grown to own its supply chain, and launched its own 30,000 square feet laundry and dry cleaning facility in June 2019.

Ecomz, a Lebanese e-commerce management platform, announced the close of its $4 million Series A in July. The round was led by Cedar Mundi Ventures, a local VC, who was also joined by iSME Lebanon, a government led funding initiative, and BLC Bank.

Ecomz was founded in 2015 by Rudy Bekerejian and Amer Tabbara. Like Shopify, the startup supports merchants to simply set up their online retail platforms and enables end-to-end ecommerce management.

Algerian ride-hailing startup TemTem has raised the country's largest Series A with $4 million. The round was led by Tell Venture Automotive and other undisclosed investors.

Founded in 2018 by Kamel Haddar, TemTem offers ride-hailing services to company employees, while billing the business directly, as well as individual customers.

Rain, a Bahrain-based cryptocurrency exchange platform raised $2.5 million in its seed round this July. It also became the first to receive the Crypto-Asset Module (CRA) license from the Central Bank of Bahrain.

The seed round was co-led by BitMEX Ventures and Kuwait-based cryptocurrency fund, Blockwater. Other investors in the round include Vision Ventures, 500 Startups MENA, and Taibah Valley.

With regulatory approval, Rain is now live and ready for trade via its platform: www.rain.bh

Another Shopify like platform, Saudi Arabia-based Zid raised $2 million in Pre-Series A. The round was led by Elm Street Venture, and joined by China’s MSA Capital, Kuwait’s Arzan VC as well as some undisclosed angel investors.

Zid's services enables businesses to set up their online retail stores without having coding or technical expertise.

Pure Harvest announced in Mid-September that they have raised $1.75 million in the first phase of their $20m expansion round led by Shorooq Partners and the Mohammed bin Rashid Innovation Fund.

The tech-enabled agribusiness grows fresh fruits and vegetables in the hard conditions of the desert in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

Pure Harvest has a strong distribution network and will use the recently raised capital for R&D of new technologies, as well as to expand production facilities further in the UAE and KSA.