Iraq-based Hi-Express has raised a “six-figure” seed round led by the Iraqi Angel Investors Network (IAIN), marking the network’s third investment to date. The investment was partially matched by a USD 20,000 in grants from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH via its project “ICT for Youth in Iraq” as part of the organisation's support to the Angel Network.

Hi-Express is a last mile delivery startup focused on the B2B segment of the market and was founded in 2019 by Mujahid Waisi, Ameen Saleem and Ahmed Al Alousi. The company has grown to serve more than 170 vendors over the past year empowered by its proprietary technology and the deep experience of its founding team.

The investment will be used to expand its fleet and its presence across the country.

“Despite the increasing competition in the last mile market in Iraq, the size and potential of the market makes it still up for grabs. Our growth over the past year is a testament to our abilities,” said Ahmed Al Aloosi, CEO of Hi-Express.

Amar Shubar, a member of IAIN and partner at Management Partners said: “Operations excellence is a key challenge for most companies operating in Iraq and especially the last-mile delivery segment. The team and technology behind Hi-Express has demonstrated its ability to overcome such challenges. While currently most of the last-mile-delivery demand is driven by the increased e-commerce transactions in Iraq, Hi-Express is well positioned to transform customer engagement and service fulfillment for a number of sectors – especially related to the government and financial service sector.”