• Iraq-based super app Baly, backed by Germany’s Rocket Internet has closed a Seed round of $10.5 million from Kingsway Capital, MSA Capital, Global Founders Capital, Vostok Ventures, Majid Al Futtaim and March Holding. It is the largest financing round for an Iraqi startup and Rocket Internet’s first foray into the country.
• Founded in 2021 by Munqith Alazzawi and Matteo Mantovani, Baly launched its first ride-hailing service in Baghdad last month. It plans to launch additional services like food and grocery delivery over the next few weeks.
• Super apps have been gaining traction across the Middle East, attracting $158 million in investment in 2021.

Press release:

Baly, Iraq’s first superapp, announced today the closing of the largest seed round in the tech history of Iraq. The company, backed by Germany’s Rocket internet, raised USD 10.5 million from Kingsway Capital, MSA Capital, Global Founders Capital, Vostok Ventures, Majid Al Futtaim and March Holding. The amount and the class of participating investors signals strong confidence in the team and model in a still nascent market.

Baly launched ride-hailing as its first service in Baghdad last month, and already boasts thousands of rides each day. In the next few weeks, additional services, like food and grocery delivery, will go live and Baly will expand to cover more cities in the country.

Arnd Lodowicks, CFO of Rocket Internet, stated: “Baly is for us a world class team in an extremely exciting and promising market. We are looking forward to supporting the company on its mission to become the leading super app of Iraq.”

Founding team member Munqith Alazzawi said: “We are thrilled to announce the closure of our first funding round, just weeks after launch. These funds will accelerate our expansion across the country and support the start of further business lines including food-delivery in the coming weeks.”

According to the company, Baly has already attracted more than 70 employees, including some of the best local and global talent from McKinsey, INSEAD, Cambridge University, Baghdad University and Tsinghua University.

Managing Director Matteo Mantovani highlighted: “Iraq is home to 40 million people, with over 90 per cent smartphone penetration amongst those aged 17-40. With a young, urbanised population, it is the perfect place to revolutionise the economy through digital services.”