Egypt's e-commerce start-up Kenzz raises $3.5m for expansion

Proceeds will be used for hiring, development and technological investment

Shoppers at a mall in Cairo. 'The time is ripe to fully optimise e-commerce in Egypt and Mena,' says Ahmed Atef, chief executive of Kenzz. Dana Smillie / The National

Egypt-based e-commerce start-up Kenzz has raised $3.5 million in early-stage funding to hire people, develop products, invest in technology and launch an app.

The seed-stage funding round was led by Outliers Venture Capital, a VC fund backing early-stage outlier founders in the US, Middle East and North Africa. Global technology investment firm HOF Capital, Foundation Ventures, Samurai Incubate and angel investors were among the participants in this round.

"The time is ripe to fully optimise e-commerce in Egypt and Mena," said Ahmed Atef, chief executive of Kenzz. "We have designed Kenzz to appeal specifically to people not yet convinced that e-commerce is a practical and mainstream mode of shopping."

Egypt, the Arab world’s most populous country, is banking on sectors such as technology and start-up ecosystems to diversify its economy.

Venture capital funding in Egypt more than doubled to $307 million in the first half of the year from 2021, ranking it third in the Mena region, according to start-up data platform Magnitt. The number of deals in the country also grew by 22 per cent annually to 78 during the first six months of the year.

Founded in 2022 by Ahmed Atef, Mahmoud AlSilk and Moataz Sami, Kenzz provides e-commerce services to consumers across Egypt and Mena. Kenzz’s platform digitises the offline shopping experience, giving discounts of up to 65 per cent.

The company's business model involves sourcing products directly from manufacturers and importers, and offering consumers deeper discounts when they share or buy with friends and family.

Group orders can also be sent to single locations to reduce delivery fees for consumers and logistics costs for Kenzz, it said.

"Kenzz is bridging the gap between traditional offline and online shopping with a model reflecting the everyday behaviour and needs of the consumer masses and making it easily accessible," the start-up said.

"Kenzz addresses the primary reasons [why] consumers are reluctant to purchase online: a lack of trust, availability of bargains, complexity, a one-way transactional process, no personalisation, little insightful relevancy, and redundant technology."

Kenzz’s model benefits local manufacturers and SMEs too — by giving them access to data, insights, and potential hard-to-reach end users — to grow their business, it said.

"Kenzz is solving two key issues that current e-commerce incumbents are not addressing: affordable and reliable last mile logistics and an uncompromising customer trust philosophy," said Sarah AlSaleh, partner at Outliers Venture Capital.

Omar Barakat, managing partner at Foundation Ventures, said the platform was built to cater to the masses.

"Kenzz is socialising the purchasing experience, allowing people to unlock value by buying in groups," he said. "This leverages Egyptians' social nature whilst providing them with affordable and reliable products. Kenzz’s platform is built to serve the masses."