Cairo-based B2B e-commerce startup Capiter continues that trend by raising a $33 million Series A round. The investment was co-led by Quona Capital and MSA Capital. Other participating investors include Savola, Shorooq Partners, Foundation Ventures, Accion Venture Lab and Derayah Ventures. Many of the manufacturers in Egypt today do not have the right infrastructure of the supply chain in place to reach merchants. Manufacturers can only reach 30% of merchants in the market, but with Capiter, that number goes up between 80% to 100%. Also, a large portion of the manufacturers’ end trade happens via traditional channels where there is basically no transparency over data or market insights. Using machine learning, Capiter says it helps these manufacturers gain critical insights into the markets they serve, the products they sell and how they fair with competition. Then for merchants, Capiter attends to three problems. The first is the inconvenience merchants must deal with engaging several suppliers to find the right product. The second is transparency, which involves some back and forth between merchants and manufacturers on pricing. The third is that merchants often have little or no access to working capital to get the right product and the right time. With Capiter, merchants can order products from FMCGs and wholesalers while the company delivers them. Capiter also provides fair pricing and matching techniques that showcases a wide range of inventory for merchants.
The company’s revenues are derived from little margins on the products bought from manufacturers and sold to merchants. Then on rebates for the suppliers and commission from the working capital provided to merchants. Capiter also makes money from providing market insights and data services to manufacturers and FMCGs. Quona Capital, the co-lead investor in this round, is known to have made some B2B e-commerce bets over the past years, for instance, Kenya’s Sokowatch. The investment in Capiter adds to the firm’s portfolio in that regard and a growing presence in the MENA region being its first check made in Egypt.