• Egypt-based B2B platform Cartona has raised $4.5 million in a pre-Series A round led by Global Ventures, with participation from Kepple Africa Ventures, T5 Ventures and a group of angel investors.
• Founded in August 2020 by Mahmoud Talaat and Mahmoud Abdel-Fattah, Cartona is a B2B e-commerce marketplace connecting retailers to manufacturers and wholesalers. It aims to solve the supply-chain and operational challenges in the FMCG sector by digitising the mostly offline trade market.
• Since inception, Cartona has acquired over 30,000 users in Cairo and Alexandria and has processed over 400,000 delivered orders with an annualised gross merchandise value of EGP 1 billion ($64 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.
• The funding will be invested in Cartona’s technology, launch new products and expand geographically across Egypt.
• “Small and medium retailers deserve the opportunity to operate their businesses efficiently while delivering growth simultaneously. To do so, they need access to credit, inventory and payment services. We are dedicated to empowering the B2B ecosystem through technology and supply chain innovation. Cartona is committed to building a strong network of digitally connected retailers that have better control over their businesses through running a seamless daily operation,” said Talaat.

Press release:

Cartona, a B2B platform connecting retailers to manufacturers and wholesalers announces its successful $4.5 million Pre-Series A fundraise.    

The round was led by Global Ventures, a Dubai-based, international venture capital firm, with participation from Kepple Africa Ventures, T5 Ventures and a group of angel investors. Proceeds will be used to invest in deepening the capabilities of the technology to further enhance the user experience and introduce embedded finance within the product and order cycle.    

Founded in August 2020, Cartona is a 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. The Company offers an asset-light marketplace that enables grocery retailers to order their store needs digitally from a curated network of sellers.

Historically, Egyptian retailers have had limited access to suppliers, as well as very limited visibility on rapidly changing market prices, available trade offers, and have been dependent on traditional logistical capabilities. Cartona is designed to eliminate inefficiencies across the value chain, from buyers to sellers, by providing enhanced visibility through real-time price comparisons, and superior clarity on delivery times, while allowing FMCGs and suppliers to optimise on their go-to-market execution through the use of 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 20% market share. Mahmoud also founded Speakol – a Mena-focused advertisement technology platform serving over 60 million monthly users.

Mahmoud Talaat, CEO and Co-founder of Cartona, said:

“Small and medium retailers deserve the opportunity to operate their businesses efficiently while delivering growth simultaneously. To do so, they need access to credit, inventory and payment services. We are dedicated to empowering the B2B ecosystem through technology and supply chain innovation. Cartona is committed to building a strong network of digitally connected retailers that have better control over their businesses through running a seamless daily operation”

Mahmoud Abdel-Fattah, CTO and Co-founder of Cartona, said:

“It is time to capitalise on technology beyond warehouses and trucks. Data and technology will transform traditional retail to a digitally-native one, which in return will drastically improve the supply chain efficiency.”

Since inception, Cartona has acquired over 30,000 users in Cairo and Alexandria alone. It has processed over 400,000 delivered orders with an annualised gross merchandise value of EGP 1 billion. 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.

Basil Moftah, General Partner at Global Ventures, said:    

“We are really excited to lead this investment round in Cartona. The trade market is one of the most sophisticated, yet characterised by multiple critical inefficiencies across the value chain. Cartona’s asset-light approach tackles those inefficiencies by optimising the trade process in unique ways, and does so with minimal capital spent. The company has already demonstrated consistently stellar growth over the past year. We are thrilled to partner with the company’s solid, highly capable and experienced founding team on their third entrepreneurial journey”.