Homzmart, an Egypt-based online furniture marketplace, has raised $1.3 million in a seed round. MSA Capital, Oman Technology Fund (OTF), and Equitrust, an investment arm Choueiri Group all contributed in the round. This round is described as the largest seed fundraised by an Egyptian startup.
Mahmoud Ibrahim and Ibrahim Mohamed founded Homzmart last year to connect furniture manufacturers and vendors with customers online. Mahmoud served as Jumia’s VP Operations in 2012. He then became the Managing Director and COO for Daraz Group, an e-commerce platform in Asia. Ibrahim also led logistics development and expansion in Jumia, Egypt.
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The duo founded Homzmart to connect furniture manufacturers in Egypt with customers looking to furnish their homes. Mahmoud explained the business further in a conversation with Menabyte. He said that there are 25 million people in the MENA region searching for home furnishing every month and a few manufacturers online. He also explained that the cost of setting up showrooms led to starting Homzmart.
“When a customer is looking to make the purchase, they either go to established brands or ask their friends for a referral, which means a lot of good sellers never get discovered by the customers. What we are doing is giving these manufacturers and sellers access to technology and helping them land more sales by reaching out to new customers,” he added.
There are about 10000 products listed and over 2500 customers ordering on the platform. Homzmart plans to use the investment to scale its tech, enhance customer experience and expand the team.
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