• Iraq-based food delivery app Alsaree3, and its sister company on-demand last-mile delivery platform Al Zajel, have raised another bridge round totaling $3.2 million. The group raised its initial bridge round back in 2021. It takes the total funding raised by Al Saree3 in 2021 to $4 million.
• The recent round is aimed at helping the company shore up its q-commerce operations in its core cities; Baghdad and Basra following its recent expansion into the e-grocery segment.
• Both rounds were led by existing investors including Iraq Tech Ventures and Innovest ME with participation from Euphrates Advisors, Rabee Securities chairman Shwan Ibrahim Taha, Rawaz Rauf of Hiwa Rauf Group, Innovest ME CEO Bassam Falah as well as Mohammed Khudairi and Subhi Khudairi of the Khudairi Group.
• Alsaree3 helps restaurants handle their own operations using their point of sale (POS) and hardware technologies. Zajel offers on-demand parcel delivery services.
• Earlier this week Erbil-based q-commerce startup TipTop raised $5 million to accelerate its expansion into other cities in Iraq.

Press release

Alsaree3 Group, consisting of Alsaree3 (food-delivery) and Al Zajel Express (last-mile delivery services), closed a 7-figure bridge round in late December 2021, bringing its total amount of funding raised in 2021 to over $4 million USD.

Founder and CEO of Alsaree3 Group, Bassam Al-Ateia, commented, “Despite the entrance of competitors, Baghdad and Basra (our core cities) are still fundamentally underserved. The vast majority of restaurant delivery orders still happen offline in Baghdad. We are working directly with our restaurant partners to capture these orders. In addition, we have expanded into grocery delivery since options for consumers are even more limited in this category.”

He continued, “With this funding, Alsaree3 will establish more dark stores in our core cities to increase accessibility to high-demand grocery items. We launched our first store in October, and we’ve seen impressive growth in each store that we’ve opened since. For Al Zajel, we are expanding our operations across the country quickly due to our strategic B2B partnerships, such as our partnership with ZainCash.”

Euphrates Ventures led the recent rounds of investment and commented, “Bassam and his team have built one of the leading food delivery and last mile delivery businesses in Iraq, utilizing their local expertise to serve the unmet needs of the Iraqi consumer. They have the talent, drive and focus required to satisfy the growing demands of the markets they serve at the highest possible level. We are pleased to provide this capital for Alsaree3 to continue to lead the development of one of the most dynamic and exciting sectors in Iraq’s economy. While we applaud Bassam and his team’s many accomplishments, we believeAlsaree3 is just getting started.”

As a native Iraqi brand, Alsaree3 Group has a robust understanding of the Iraq market. It has achieved rapid growth and strong economics in its core cities of Baghdad and Basra – cities where several competitors have faltered. In terms of delivery times, it is unmatched: Alsaree3 boasts a delivery time of 37 minutes in Baghdad. Al Zajel can deliver as fast as 90 minutes for its C2C operations and offers same-day delivery for B2B and B2C operations.

Alsaree3 launched in 2018 in Baghdad and expanded to Basra last year. Alsaree3’s core cities of Baghdad and Basra represent a population of over 11M people who need speedy food and grocery delivery to their doorsteps.

Supporting Alsaree3 are some of the biggest names in the Iraqi venture ecosystem. Euphrates Venturesled the round while Bassam Falah, CEO of Innovest ME, Mohammed Khudairi, founder of Iraq TechVentures, and Subhi Khudairi, President of Khudairi Group, also participated.