Egypt's start-up ArabyAds raises $30m to expand into new markets

AfricInvest, a pan-African investment platform managing multiple alternative asset classes, participated in the AdTech firm's funding round

Cairo from above, as seen from Cairo Tower in the city's Zamalek district. Founded in Cairo, ArabyAds which is now headquartered in the UAE, has tech hubs across Egypt, Tunisia, and Jordan. Getty Images

Egyptian AdTech start-up ArabyAds has raised $30 million from its latest funding round as it seeks to expand into new markets regionally and internationally.

ArabyAds' pre-Series B funding came from AfricInvest, a pan-African investment firm managing alternative asset classes including private equity, venture capital and private credit, the investor said in a statement on Tuesday.

The AdTech company will use the proceeds to expand its footprint into new markets in north and Sub-Saharan Africa, further invest in its tech and hire more people to boost growth.

"Our fundamentals are strong, and as one of the fastest and profitably-growing companies in the Mena region, ArabyAds is now looking to expand its presence in newer markets where it can leverage its scalable, secure, and end-to-end platforms to help e-commerce businesses scale effortlessly across the globe," Mahmoud Fathy, chief executive and co-founder of ArabyAds, said.

Founded in October 2013 in Cairo, with headquarters in the UAE and tech hubs across Egypt, Tunisia, and Jordan, ArabyAds specialises in digital advertising. The company, which employs 300 people, opened its business headquarters in Dubai in 2016, according to its website.

In 2019 it secured $6.5m in Series A funding from EQ2 Ventures, the investment arm of Choueiri Group. In 2020, it acquired Dubai's AdFalcon and in 2021 it purchased influencer marketing platform Dmenta.

The number of e-commerce transactions powered by ArabyAds' platforms so far in 2022 reached nearly 9.6 million, while these transactions totalled 12,355,414 in the full year of 2021, according to its website.

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“This funding round enables us to increase the pace of our international expansion, providing ArabyAds an opportunity to further deliver meaningful technology solutions to e-commerce companies globally," Gulrez Alam, chief investment and strategy officer at ArabyAds, said.

The deal is the eighth investment for AfricInvest’s Maghreb Private Equity Fund IV, which provides growth capital to small and mid-cap companies to expand regionally and across the African continent, with the aim of spurring productivity growth and sustainable job creation.

AfricInvest has raised $1.9 billion across 21 funds, according to its website.

AfricInvest has invested in more than 170 companies in 25 African countries in key growth industries, including financial services, agribusiness, consumer, retail, education and healthcare.

Ad spending in the digital advertising market is projected to reach $616bn in 2022, up from $537bn in 2021, according to Statista.

Updated: August 23, 2022, 8:46 AM