• Iraq-based B2C marketplace Miswag, has raised $1.6 million in a pre-Series A round. This funding closely follows its six-figure bridge round last year, bringing its total investment raised to nearly $3 million since 2019. 

• Founded in 2014 by Ammar Ameen, Miswag's platform hosts international and local brand retailers looking to access the Iraqi market, offering 24-hour delivery for orders in Baghdad. 

• The startup has built its own technology and deployed AI and automation to overcome challenges in the market. Miswag claims to have doubled its year-on-year revenue in 2021 and tripled its user base since early 2020. 

• Miswag will use the newly acquired funding to grow its team to accelerate its revenue growth five-fold by mid-2022.

• The B2C online shopping market (non-food, non-services) in Iraq is estimated to be around 250,000 daily transactions with a total monthly value of $150 million according to Miswag.

Press release:

Iraq's largest e-commerce marketplace, Miswag, has raised over $1.6 million USD in Iraq’s first Pre-Series A round, on an undisclosed 8-digit valuation, to scale its Iraq operations and accelerate its massive growth over the next year. This funding closely follows its 6-figure bridge round last year, bringing the total outside capital raised for Miswag to nearly $3 million USD since 2019. 

Ammar Ameen, Miswag's founder and one of Iraq's nascent ecosystem’s most prominent entrepreneurs mentions, "This round is an important boost to the business that reflects our investors' trust in our results and their faith in the team. But this is only the beginning. Our goals for Miswag are much bigger, and they are more attainable than ever given the strength of our team.”  

“It’s been exciting to watch Miswag’s place itself as one of the top technology companies in Iraq amidst some challenging circumstances. The ecosystem has seen a steady rise in recent years through both the creation of new startups but also the entry of regional and international players. I’m confident this will have a positive impact on the ecosystem at large and create more investment in Iraq’s technology sector.” said Mohammed Al-Khudairi, managing partner in Al-Khudairi’s group; one of Miswag leading investors.

Founded in 2014, Miswag was the first e-commerce business in Iraq, and it continues to lead the market for the seventh year in a row. Building upon its impressive early growth, Miswag has already doubled its year-on-year revenue in 2021 and tripled its user base since early 2020. The funding from this round will be deployed to expand the company’s commercial and technological arms to accelerate the company’s revenue growth fivefold by mid-2022. The team will be hiring key talent in essential roles such as application development and senior positions in its commercial and financial departments. Geoffrey Batt, managing partner at Euphrates Advisors; Iraq’s largest international fund, also added: “The Leadership team in Miswag have the talent, drive, and expertise to build Iraq’s first e-commerce national champion, and we are excited to play a role in helping everyone at Miswag achieve this objective.”

The B2C online shopping market (non-food, non-services) in Iraq is estimated to be around 250K daily transactions with a total monthly value of $150M, according to Marwan Ahmed, Miswag's Vice President of Commercial Development and People. “We have barely scratched the surface of Iraq’s untapped market that usually makes their shopping decisions on an ad-hoc basis and is heavily influenced by social media-based businesses," Marwan stated in discussing the market's growth potential. 

Miswag’s mission is to become the most innovative and efficient tech company in Iraq. Some of Miswag’s key differentiators include guaranteed 24-hour delivery for orders in Baghdad, a multi-layered loyalty program (which is integrated with the Takaful initiative to give back to the community), in-house cutting-edge technology, and AI-driven and automated tools to overcome market-specific challenges. 

Ammar added "Miswag is a bold, innovative brand that is inspiring to the Iraqi youth. We will continue to be steps ahead of our competitors by delivering high-quality products and excellent customer service to the Iraqi people. These facts translate in higher retention rates and clearly reflect on our numbers and how we are growing.”

Miswag has positioned itself as the digital home for all international and local brand retailers looking for access to the Iraqi market. It guarantees authentic products from significant distributors to satisfy the growing market demand for high-quality products. Miswag has differentiated itself by focusing on fast delivery and excellent packaging in a country that lacks proper in-country logistics infrastructure nor parcel shipping standards.