Egypt-based B2B marketplace raises $4.5m funding

Cartona, the Egypt-based B2B platform connecting retailers to manufacturers and wholesalers, has successfully raised $4.5 million in its latest funding round. The pre-series A round was led by Global Ventures, with participation from Kepple Africa Ventures, T5 Ventures, and a group of angel investors.

Founded in August 2020, Cartona launched its B2B e-commerce marketplace focusing on solving the supply-chain and operational challenges for the fast-moving consumer goods industry (FMCG) by digitising the traditional, predominantly offline, trade market in Egypt. The company offers an asset-light marketplace that enables grocery retailers to order their store needs digitally from a curated network of sellers.

Cartona is designed to eliminate inefficiencies across the value chain, by providing enhanced visibility through real-time price comparisons and ETAs, while allowing FMCGs and suppliers to optimise their go-to-market execution via data and analytics. The company was co-founded by Mahmoud Talaat, the former chief commercial officer of Lamar Egypt, who helped build and scale the company into a leading position with a 20% market share.

Since its launch, Cartona has aggregated over 30,000 users in Cairo and Alexandria alone. It has processed over 400,000 delivered orders with an annualised gross merchandise value of more than $63 million. Cartona works with 100 FMCG companies, 1,000 distributors, and wholesalers, offering consumers over 10,000 products listed on its platform including dry, fresh, and frozen food.

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